“You’re trying to change food for people to be healthy and to try new things, but before that there’s the need for people to eat,” said Dan Giusti, the former head chef of Noma in Copenhagen. Giusti made it to the top in the world of fine dining —Noma is widely considered the “world’s best” restaurant—but when I sat down for an interview with him, it was over a simple dinner of mashed sweet potatoes, chicken, and kale at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School in New London.
In early 2016, after leaving his position at Noma, Giusti founded BRIGAID, an organization that brings professional chefs to public schools in need. Since its start, the program has hired a team of chefs, many of whom used to work in fine dining, to cook free meals for students at public high schools and middle schools across New London. They have one common purpose: fight food insecurity. As Giusti heads to New York City to expand BRIGAID’s mission and provide for other cities in need, I think the program that will continue to serve New London after his departure deserves recognition.
For Giusti, the transition from working as a chef in an expensive, modern, and highly creative atmosphere to serving food to public school students was difficult. “When I first came into it, I thought we were going to do all this cool stuff with the food, but then you realize that these kids are just hungry.” He continued, “You see it on long weekends, that there’s kids who are not eating much. You know, you hear about these things and you know that’s the situation, but when you’re right there – it hits home.” Giusti’s ability to provide children and teens with nutritious meals they may not have access to at home is exponentially more important than his ability to present gourmet meals, which distinctly contrasts his previous role at Noma.
In fact, when Giusti first began BRIGAID he faced criticism from the New London community. He explained, “When I first came here people built up this idea that I was this world class chef. It seemed overboard.” Giusti recounted a message he received from a community member when he was first beginning, “We should just send our kids to school in limousines.”
Since then, Giusti has overcome the negative perceptions, largely by interacting with the wider New London community. Throughout our interview, Giusti mingled with several of the 200-250 individuals he considers regulars. The community meal, which takes place every Wednesday night from 5-6pm at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School, is a subset of BRIGAID. It expands the mission of providing quality, nutritious and affordable food to include not only school-children, but all who live in the county. Because BRIGAID does not have to pay for its kitchen space, residents pay $5 for a meal that would otherwise cost $12-13. “Instead of people going to McDonald’s, they come here,” said Giusti. “These community meals have changed everything.”
The community meal aims to be affordable, but even for those who cannot pay, alternative payment options exist. An organic pay-it-forward movement is part of what makes Wednesday nights so community oriented. Every week, 40-50 extra tickets are paid for by individuals attending the dinner. When I asked what BRIGAID did with these additional meals Giusti responded, “We can ask people from shelters to come in or people come in sometimes — you know you start to be able to identity some people that are kind of on hard times— and we offer them free meals.” He furthered, “So we kind of have this bank going. If people come in and we think we should give them free meals, then we give them free meals.”
It is clear that Giusti is passionate about the work he does— a world class chef does not leave his position at Noma arbitrarily. With 9,860 food insecure children in New London county alone, his cause is sadly relevant to the times. Food insecurity affects more people than most realize. As Giusti claimed, “I think most people associate food insecurity with people who don’t have homes, but a lot of people have homes and their kids go to school everyday and they don’t have any food.”
To eat is a basic human right. Every person deserves access to nutritious food. As Conn students, we can take small steps. Despite attending a college with a tuition of over $67,000 a year, it is easy to forget that we exist in a place of privilege, that we are part of the New London county. So, attend a Wednesday night meal at Bennie Dover Jackson Middle School. Volunteer at the United Way Food Bank or the Giving Garden in Mystic. Donate money or goods to food pantries. It is our responsibility to be active members of our community — we are failing if we refuse to recognize the needs of our neighbors. •
