It was past noon when Chef Jagger Gordon arrived at the Soup Bar by Feed It Forward on St. Clair Avenue West from his Etobicoke kitchen.
“I’m sorry I’m late,” Gordon said. He opened the door wide, rolled up the curtain, warmed a pot of vegetable minestrone and removed 16 sticky notes from the chalkboard like clockwork.
He wore a black cap with a Canadian flag. Above it, embroidered, in capital letters, is his title, “Rescue Chef.”
Gordon flew in yesterday from Ukraine, where he fed those in war zones and children’s hospitals, but wasted no time getting the Soup Bar ready for its grand opening on Saturday.
“I’m bringing this back to the streets because everyone should know that food is not a privilege,” said Gordon, founder of Feed It Forward.
According to the University of Toronto’s PROOF study, one in five households in Canada experienced some degree of food insecurity in 2022, from worrying about running out of food before they had enough money to buy more to not eating for days because there was no money.
Gordon’s Soup Bar wants to fill that gap by rescuing stock and surplus ingredients from his catering business and local suppliers, farms and grocery stores.
With the help of volunteers and staff, he turns them into delicious soups, stews and chilli that people can pay what they can or pay for someone else.
“Love is put into food when you make a recipe,” Gordon said. “I just have such a passion for finding items that I can create with anyone and put back into a meal.”
Jagger Gordon inspects the stocks at the Soup Bar in Hillcrest Village on April 16. The Soup Bar is holding its grand opening on April 20. Photo credit: Annicca Albano
Having travelled to war zones for years, Gordon said it’s important to tackle food waste alongside dietary restrictions and cultural food insecurity.
He keeps the fridge stocked with what he calls “global creations”: tubs of beef fajitas with peppers, beef bone broth phở and vegan shepherd’s pie, to name a few.
“Ducking a few bombs and a few bullets and other hardships, I think, was worth every moment of my life,” Gordon said. “And it brought me here today because I’ve seen a lot of people strive and thrive and grow from free food.”
Cher Green, a retired counsellor advocate, donates $20 dollars or four meals for those who come in need to the Soup Bar in Hillcrest Village on April 16. A sticky note is removed from the chalkboard whenever someone claims a soup. Photo credit: Annicca Albano
But Gordon is not alone in this fight. At Blazing Kitchen, a partner caterer, the kitchen crew rally behind Gordon’s cause.
Co-manager Cassandra Anderton said she’s always been a person who gives others what she’d like to see back, which are love and respect.
“It’s really important that people feel that they have access to things without feeling bad about themselves,” Anderton said.
Farah Hussain, who runs the salads and desserts station with Anderton, said people tend to throw out food, not knowing what to do with it.
“[Chef Jagger and his team] help us understand the value of a plate of hearty meal,” Hussain said.
Chef Jagger Gordon, owner of the Soup Bar by Feed It Forward, welcomes customers to his store in Hillcrest Village on April 17. Gordon also has a pay-what-you-can Feed It Forward grocery store in the Junction neighbourhood. Photo credit: Annicca Albano
According to Second Harvest’s “The Avoidable Crisis of Food Waste” research, nearly 60 per cent of food in Canada is lost or wasted each year. About a third of it could be redirected to support Canadians.
So, Adam Spencley, driver captain of Feed It Forward, wakes up at 5:30 a.m. every day to pick up unsold or unused supplies from restaurants and food retailers and brings them to the kitchen, grocery store and soup restaurant.
Spencley said he doesn’t mind the routine and how much he has to carry in his truck.
“It feels really good knowing it’s not going to landfills,” he said.
Maja Kulpa, 18, warms up and stirs the daily specials at the Soup Bar in Hillcrest Village on April 16. Kulpa says there are people in Toronto who cannot afford food and that she feels good to be helping. Photo credit: Annicca Albano
Maja Kulpa, a student at Humberside Collegiate Institute, is also volunteering her time outside of class to help at the Soup Bar.
“Not everyone has a chance to [be part of the solution],” Kulpa said with a smile.
The Soup Bar has had a long history, even before Gordon studied culinary at George Brown College.
Gordon said he got the idea after his daughter, Alexandra, who was around nine at the time, invited her friends to their home in Hillcrest Village, thinking there would be food in the fridge when there was none.
Alexandra, now 29, said her father did not think twice and made them all breakfast.
“He’s the most caring, generous, thoughtful father I could ever ask for,” Alexandra said. “I also see that on a daily basis in how he treats the people in his community and just what it means in his heart to feed those around him.”
From left, Chef Jagger Gordon’s Batman costume for Million Dollar Smiles and two of his uniforms he would wear in war zones are on display at the Soup Bar in Hillcrest Village on April 16. Alexandra, Gordon’s daughter, said the mannequins serve as a conversation starter. Photo credit: Annicca Albano
Soup Bar has seen many transformations throughout the years, including a retrofitted shipping container near Dundas Street West and Bathurst Street in 2017.
Gordon also conceptualized the first Soup Bar at Humber College, now fully run by Humber College’s student council IGNITE.
Today, at its brick-and-mortar location in Hillcrest Village, where it all started, Gordon’s volunteer-operated soup restaurant shines a brighter light on food insecurity.
Gordon said he and his daughter hope to keep it running by offering immersive dining experiences and zero-waste culinary classes soon.
As well, he said, he would like to engage more community members with his food-sharing app and, hopefully, receive funding.
“The idea is making sure no kid goes hungry at the end of the day or wakes up to it,” Gordon said.
Soup Bar is located at 766 St. Clair Ave. W., between Oakwood Avenue and Vaughan Road, and is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.