Community meals means communion with commonality -- and that's the best sauce for hunger

We all know where any good party ends up: in the kitchen.

The kitchen is a hub -- it's the source of sustenance; a source of warmth and an easy place to find good icebreakers (let's face it, when pushed for conversation, nothing breaks the ice better than a discussion of food and wine).

So, it is with this in mind that I offer you two choices for community kitchen dinners this Friday night.

Community dinners (and subsequently community kitchens) are popping up all across Canada, yet, they are not a new notion. In fact, they are a return to values that were once prevalent in community-oriented cultures -- cultures that, in North America, have been usurped by the cult-of-the-individual. So, in a world of marketing and unauthentic experiences, community dinners are providing urban and rural dwellers with an opportunity to break bread with their extended community.

In Toronto, this Friday, there are two community dinners. The first is the long-standing tradition of Dufferin Grove Park. This community dinner attracts a wide variety of people from all across the neighbourhood (and beyond); as one community member stated, the dinner has helped to rejuvenate the community. For as little as $6 a plate ($5 if you bring your own plate) a person can look forward to a meal filled with locally produced food (purchased from the Farmer's Market held in the same park year round, every Thursday) and prepared onsite in the wood ovens. The second option is across town in Corktown. Again, the neighbours gather and for $5 a person can expect a home-cooked meal and chit-chat with people from every socio-economic and political background (including apolitical!).

Given our anonymous urban lives, these community dinners offer us all a chance to reach out and connect with the very people that deliver our papers, cut our lawns, teach our children and invest our money. They are a meeting point -- as food always is -- that does not rely on labels and schemas, but rather on nurturing and communion. And we could all use a little more communion.

Bring your plate (sustainability matters) and see you there!