Last month, Pilot Light hosted our On the Table community dinner, as part of The Chicago Community Trust’s On The Table initiative. This year’s goal was to create a Memo to the Mayor – a real and tangible way to share our ideas about important issues with Chicago’s new mayor Lori Lightfoot and her administration.
On May 22, Pilot Light brought together our community partners, teachers and school leaders to Washburne Culinary Institute to prepare a meal together and join in on the conversation. Pilot Light Culinary Director Justin Behlke led our guests in a hands-on cooking experience where participants combined carrots, cucumber, rice and avocado to create their own sushi rolls.
Following the cooking experience, everyone gathered around the table to enjoy their meal and craft their Memo to the Mayor. The group discussed the ongoing disinvestment in urban communities and brainstormed sustainable solutions for community development with the goal of food equity.
The Chicago Community Trust will collect thousands of memos from the many On the Table conversations that were held throughout the Chicagoland area. Each memo collected will be documented and used to inform a single, compilation memo to the Mayor, to be shared with the Mayor and the summary information will be posted on the On the Table site.