Koha, go to whoa

By Mara Pattison-Sowden
Six months in to the project, the hard-working and dedicated volunteers of Koha Community Cafe have been rewarded with several community grants to improve their food handling skills and increase their cooking knowledge.
The Koha Community Café, which runs out of the Yarra Burns centre on Thursday nights, is based on the concept that patrons pay for their meal according to what they feel it’s worth – or what they can afford.
The café has been enjoying up to 100 patrons a night, with the average Thursday taking in around 70 people.
The meals are hearty vegetarian dishes which change according to the produce that is donated. Music groups and local artists are invited to entertain patrons.
Funding of $10,000, a combination of federal funding and a grant from the Yarra Ranges Council, was put towards training 30 volunteers in Food Safety Level 1 and 2 during September.
Project co-ordinator Suyin Chan said it had been a great benefit to the volunteers and to how they work at the café.
A grant of $3300 from the Community Bank Enterprise will be used for the “Not So Fast” Food project, to run vegetarian cooking classes and classes in jam making and preserving.
Ms Chan said the project focused on providing hands-on experience to a section of the community in cooking skills and a “back to basics” approach to healthy and economical meals.
“It is about sharing knowledge and experience with people in the community who do not have the skills to prepare and use vegetables, herbs/spices and sauces to produce delicious, healthy meals for the family,” she said.
“It is also about learning old skills for pickling, preserving and jamming fruit and vegetables.”
So what draws volunteers to toil over a hot stove for people they don’t know?
“What we get out of it is what we put in … a lot of pleasure,” regular kitchen volunteer David, from Wesburn, said.
He said the café had great people and a great environment to work in.
“What’s going on here is something most unusual,” he said.
“The whole idea of people conversing over a meal, socialising – it all works on what people say.”