Volunteer cooks Harjit Rakra, Sukhbir Sodhi and Devinder Sodhi

Each month, more than 1,000 households benefit from the Food Shelf at the Upper Valley Haven, an on-site source of groceries offered at no cost. Six years ago, the Healthy Eating Program began, which has taken the issue of food accessibility in the Upper Valley and turned it up a notch, adding in the importance of nutrition and a little cooking wisdom.

Jennifer Fontaine, director of Community Services and Operations at the Haven, said in the past, healthier items, especially produce, were left on the shelves, prompting staff to consider how they might get guests to consider healthier choices. People in need can take a week’s worth of groceries each month from the Food Shelf and have unlimited access to breads and produce.

“We emphasize good nutrition, not just any food to keep from feeling hungry, so have worked to acquire fresh produce, dairy, and protein,” Fontaine said. She said the Haven purchases food from a variety of sources including the Vermont Foodbank and local retailers to stock the Food Shelf, but “about 87 percent of the food that is distributed is actually donated or rescued food.”

While the Haven promotes nutrition via its Food Shelf, many visitors do not have experience in cooking some of the healthier options offered. “Many of our visitors live in more rural settings where shopping options are limited,” Fontaine explained. “A lack of variety and higher prices govern their diets. Studies have shown that it costs more to eat healthfully, and that is a luxury some of our visitors do not have on their limited incomes.” Fontaine referenced a 2013 Harvard School of Public Health study on the costs of eating healthy (i.e., diets rich in vegetables, fruits, fish, and nuts) versus eating unhealthy (processed foods, meats, and refined grains). The study concluded that a healthy diet is $1.50 more per day, which, when spread over 30 days and for multiple family members, adds up quickly. (More information on the study can be found here www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/healthy-vs-unhealthy-diet-costs-1-50-more.)

The Healthy Eating Program helps community members in need to obtain healthy food and learn how to prepare simple meals with it. Volunteers at the Haven help make this happen through cooking and offering samples every day. “Volunteers come in to the Food Shelf in the morning and choose items that we have an abundance of to create their sample of the day,” Fontaine explained. “Some make up their own recipes, and some search cookbooks or online for recipes.”

Monday through Friday around 10:30 am, volunteer chefs start working on their healthy dish, ready to serve food to Haven visitors between 11:30 am and 12:00 pm. If people like what they try, they can take home a pre-made bag of the necessary ingredients and recipe so they can make it at home. While most of the volunteers do not have professional cooking backgrounds, Fontaine said “a common thread is their love of healthy cooking.”

The preparation of meals is an important element in the Healthy Eating Program. Rather than just offering fresh, seasonal vegetables in the Food Shelf, cooking these foods in front of and for guests of the Haven shows them how to easily incorporate healthy and fresh foods to their diets.

“Walking through the doors you are met with tantalizing aromas — onions or garlic cooking, a good base for a lot of recipes — or sweet spices or savory herbs,” Fontaine said. “Being able to watch food being prepared is a great lure for people. Smelling, seeing, and tasting are a great way to engage people in talking about food and getting them to consider working with and eating featured ingredient.”

Guests have responded positively, according to Fontaine. “People are taking produce that they might not have taken before, things like kohlrabi and patty pan squash, and commenting to us how it’s improved the diversity in their diet,” she said.

“Anyone in need in the community is welcome to shop our Food Shelf,” Fontaine said. “We require minimal demographic information and a few statistical points from visitors, but we do not require people to show proof of need. Our philosophy is to serve people without creating more barriers,” she added. “Anyone is welcome to sample from the Healthy Eating program. On any given day you will see other volunteers, other service providers visiting, and even staff supporting the efforts of the program to encourage our visitors to participate.”

Carole Dempsey, Lianne Moccia, Marilyn Dunten, Larry Gatto, Maureen Gatto, and Ted Frazer

There are worse things than dying, says Ira Byock, MD, former director of Palliative Care at DHMC. One of these is dying badly. To Byock, this means dying alone, perhaps in a hospital room, with the TV on. Rather, he says in the film Holding Our Own: Embracing the End of Life, we should be “waked out of life” in the company of loving family and friends. Illness and dying are often isolating, cutting a person off from both a sense of who they are and who they were, and from community.”

The Evergreen Singers, a local hospice choir inspired by the Hallowell Chorus in Brattleboro, Vermont (which was featured in the film Holding Our Own), is a group that truly wake the dying out of life, surrounded by song, and stir – remarkably – joy in singers and sung-for alike. “There is something magical about the voice and giving yourself and being vulnerable,” says Anna Alden, director. “Music helps people get to that emotion they may not have been able to get to.”

Margaret Jernstedt, Larry Gatto, Kathleen Shepherd, Mary Layton, Sue Bridge, Carole Dempsey, Sheila Moran, Martha McDaniel, and Linda Armstrong. (Barely visible in the back row is Marilyn Dunten and Sally Shipton.)

The Evergreen Singers was formed in 2007, recalls Penny McConnell, when she and Calli Guion wanted to sing for hospice patients. Early inspiration included the Hallowell Chorus, Kathy Leo, Mary Cay Brass, and Joan Shimer. The group moved around a bit, searching for a home, and now practice at St. Barnabas. In the early years, Calli says, when they were called the Upper Valley Community Choir, “We learned repertoire and practiced bedside singing around volunteers who would lie on the floor.” The group has coalesced now – though they are always looking for new members – and has strong affiliations with local hospices.

Currently there are 25 singers in the choir (only four men), with the ages of the singers ranging from 54 on up into the 70s. Many of the singers participate in other choirs, such as Revels, shape-note singing, or the Thetford Chamber Singers, to name just a few. Anna Alden, who became the director in September of 2014, says that her role is to give them feedback as musicians and to help with their singing. “It can be challenging to be a singer in this setting,” Anna explains. “The bedside group could be as small as four singers, so people really have to be able to sing independently.” The Evergreen Singers have a solid repertoire, and Anna is helping them add songs and genres. “Sometimes,” she says, “we’re asked if we can sing a country song.” As director, she is full of admiration for the wonderful and well-meaning singers who give the gift of music and their own vulnerability so readily.

Newly-hired director of Evergreen Singers, Anna Alden

In addition to the stability and support that a director now gives them, the training from hospice is a vital component of the group experience, says Norwich resident, Carole Dempsey, one of the Evergreen Singers. The training familiarizes them with the fundamental tenets of hospice, such as confidentiality, and honoring the beliefs and experiences of the dying, and also helps them feel more comfortable with entering the space of the dying. Additionally, Carole says, “These trainings serve as real bonding experiences for the singers. In regular rehearsals we are so focused on our music that there’s not time to get to know one another. The trainings really deepened our personal connections, and it is amazing how that influences our ability to provide a quality experience at bedside.”

In the film, Holding Our Own, the power of music for those on the threshold of life and death, and for those singing to them, is clear. Though the film focuses on the Brattleboro chorus which was the inspiration for the Evergreen Singers, this is a constant refrain from participants. “When someone is at the end of life,” Carole explains, “all that sort of non-essential life-noise falls away. No one is concerned about politics, or how they look, or their social status. Even though it can be an emotionally difficult time, there is always so much love in the room, and people are wanting to be present with each other at a very deep level. It’s as real as it gets.”

To learn more about participating with or receiving a visit from the Evergreen Singers, call Margaret Jernstedt at 603-643-3663, visit their website (www.evergreenvt.weebly.com) or email Anna Alden at aalden@rivendellschool.org. Next auditions will be held on March 29th.