Cooking With Community

Melgund Township Recreation launches Community Cookbook and Recipe Project

Across Northwestern Ontario—from the quiet roads of Dyment to the heart of Borups Corners—the kitchen has always been more than a space for cooking. It has been a place of gathering, creativity, and sustenance. Today, the team at Melgund is giving that tradition a fresh, forward-thinking twist.

The Melgund: Come Eat With Us project treats cooking and culinary arts as a central form of community recreation. Through this program, cooking together and sharing recipes becomes an opportunity to connect, learn, and engage residents in meaningful ways.

While recreation is often associated with sports or outdoor adventures, the program takes a broader view. By making cooking and baking accessible and enjoyable, they cultivate food literacy, empower participants with practical culinary skills, and help residents understand nutrition. They also encourage people to cook confidently with local, readily available ingredients—an important step toward strengthening food security in rural and Northern communities.

But the initiative goes beyond the kitchen.

The project also doubles as a recreational digital literacy program. Participants use a custom web app to create, store, and explore recipes, engaging with technology in a relaxed and interactive way. This “digital campfire” encourages sharing, allowing neighbors to swap tips for the perfect sourdough or a hearty stew from their computers, tablets and smartphones.

Whether someone is an experienced cook or just starting out, the program invites everyone to explore, share, and enjoy. Cooking becomes more than a necessity—it transforms into a source of joy and creativity.

Through this approach, they are not only celebrating Northern ingenuity but also reinforcing local food systems and fostering community—one recipe at a time.

Click here to browse the Melgund: Come Eat With Us Cookbook.

About the Author

Art Borups Corners

Administrator

Art Borup’s Corners is a northern arts incubator based in Melgund Township, Northwestern Ontario, where community-led creativity, land-based practice, and digital innovation come together. Rooted in the cultural rhythms of the boreal forest and shaped by years of grassroots organizing across Ontario, Manitoba, Nunavut, and Minnesota, Borup’s Corners supports artists, youth, and community members through participatory storytelling, climate-focused projects, and creative entrepreneurship. From wild blueberry walks to immersive AI-powered exhibitions, our seasonal programs and artist residencies foster connection, skill-building, and self-determined expression—all grounded in place, culture, and care.

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