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Take Back the Tray: Revolutionizing Food in Hospitals, Schools, and Other Institutions
A beloved chef takes on institutional food and sparks a revolution
Good food generally doesn't arrive on a tray: hospital food is famously ridiculed, chronic student hunger is deemed a rite of passage, and prison meals are considered part of the punishment. But Chef Joshna Maharaj knows that institutional kitchens have the ability to produce good, nourishing food, because she's been making it happen over the past 14 years. She's served meals to people who'd otherwise go hungry, baked fresh scones for maternity ward mothers, and dished out wholesome, scratch-made soups to stressed-out undergrads. She's determined to bring health, humanity, and hospitality back to institutional food while also building sustainability, supporting the local economy, and reinvigorating the work of frontline staff.
Take Back the Tray is part manifesto, part memoir from the trenches, and a blueprint for reclaiming control from corporations and brutal bottom lines. Maharaj reconnects food with health, wellness, education, and rehabilitation in a way that serves people, not just budgets, and proves change is possible with honest, sustained commitment on all levels, from government right down to the person sorting the trash. The need is clear, the time is now, and this revolution is delicious.
Good food generally doesn't arrive on a tray: hospital food is famously ridiculed, chronic student hunger is deemed a rite of passage, and prison meals are considered part of the punishment. But Chef Joshna Maharaj knows that institutional kitchens have the ability to produce good, nourishing food, because she's been making it happen over the past 14 years. She's served meals to people who'd otherwise go hungry, baked fresh scones for maternity ward mothers, and dished out wholesome, scratch-made soups to stressed-out undergrads. She's determined to bring health, humanity, and hospitality back to institutional food while also building sustainability, supporting the local economy, and reinvigorating the work of frontline staff.
Take Back the Tray is part manifesto, part memoir from the trenches, and a blueprint for reclaiming control from corporations and brutal bottom lines. Maharaj reconnects food with health, wellness, education, and rehabilitation in a way that serves people, not just budgets, and proves change is possible with honest, sustained commitment on all levels, from government right down to the person sorting the trash. The need is clear, the time is now, and this revolution is delicious.
248 pages, Paperback
Published May 5, 2020
4 people are currently reading
213 people want to read
About the author
Joshna Maharaj
1 book2 followersJoshna Maharaj is a chef, two-time TEDx speaker, and activist. She believes strongly in the power of chefs and social gastronomy to bring hospitality, sustainability, and social justice to the table
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
May 8, 2021
4.0 Stars
This was an interesting piece of non fiction that explored the challenges of providing good food in institutional settings. I don't read a lot of non fiction but I found this one easy to follow and not overly long. The author approached the topic with a very balanced mindset, recognizing the challenges without demonizing any the individuals involved in these systems. While this is not my topical read, I found the topic to be pretty fascinating. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic. I listened to the audio version which had excellent narration.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
This was an interesting piece of non fiction that explored the challenges of providing good food in institutional settings. I don't read a lot of non fiction but I found this one easy to follow and not overly long. The author approached the topic with a very balanced mindset, recognizing the challenges without demonizing any the individuals involved in these systems. While this is not my topical read, I found the topic to be pretty fascinating. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in the topic. I listened to the audio version which had excellent narration.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
May 28, 2021
Joshna Maharaj is a chef and a multiple-time TED speaker. She has built a reputation around helping to improve the food served in institutions like hospitals, foods, and prisons. She is passionate about local and fresh ingredients vs. just heating up stuff that comes frozen or in bags. She has drastically changed the meals at hospitals and schools at which she has worked, much to the praise of the people eating the food.
I enjoy food reads, so this was an interesting one to me. I've read plenty of books about food in restaurants or even more generally "eating locally". I didn't previously know much about institutional food other than school lunches as a kid or the lackluster meals I got served in the maternity ward. It was great to see someone looking to improve the meals for these "captive audiences". It is better for their health and also for our environment and local economies.
I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by the author and she did an excellent job with it. Her public speaking experience shone through.
thank you to the publisher for the audiobook!
I enjoy food reads, so this was an interesting one to me. I've read plenty of books about food in restaurants or even more generally "eating locally". I didn't previously know much about institutional food other than school lunches as a kid or the lackluster meals I got served in the maternity ward. It was great to see someone looking to improve the meals for these "captive audiences". It is better for their health and also for our environment and local economies.
I listened to the audiobook, which was narrated by the author and she did an excellent job with it. Her public speaking experience shone through.
thank you to the publisher for the audiobook!
March 8, 2022
This was an interesting read, unfortunately I found there to be a number of issues. The most important one is that the author emphasises balanced and healthy nutrition for people in various settings. I absolutely and completely agree with her. It is appalling what we serve our children and it's alarming what we give to people in hospitals, those who are recovering from illness and are in need of food that nourishes all their cells, allowing their bodies to work their hardest to improve their conditions. However, my issue is with the food she suggests. At several points Maharaj talks about butter, something or other being cooked in butter, buttery something something. Now, I am not a nutritionist, I am just a research student who loves learning about nutrition in her free time, but butter is one of the most damaging things we can be eating. The little nutritional benefit one might claim exists (yes, it has calcium but a lot of studies have shown that actually, it has little to no positive effect on bone health), it is just hydrogenated fat, which is some of the most damaging kind and, if consumed in large quantities, has a terrible effect on the body. I know, she did not say they should eat loads of it, but if we are trying to improve people's health, why not focus on good fat sources, those that also bring nutrients, vitamins, minerals like avocado or nut and seeds butters. I am not saying people should never eat butter either, I just think that this book, highlighting the damaging effects of low nutrient food, is not the right place to emphasise butter of all things.
Apart from that, celebrating meal times, eating locally sourced food, making meals enjoyable for those involved, giving chefs creative freedom, not getting food delivered that has to be kept warm for hours, all of those I obviously think are wonderful concepts.
Apart from that, celebrating meal times, eating locally sourced food, making meals enjoyable for those involved, giving chefs creative freedom, not getting food delivered that has to be kept warm for hours, all of those I obviously think are wonderful concepts.
July 26, 2021
Social gastronomy (209).
November 16, 2020
Just a quick review. 3.5 stars
This book is part memoir, and looks at one chef's experience restoring hospitality and sustainability to food systems in a hospital and a university, namely The Scarborough Hospital and Ryerson University. Made me think back to my time working and studying at universities and what I have seen of one hospital's food, which is actually not that bad.
Having worked in sustainability at a university and being interested in food systems and food generally, I appreciated this book and the values presnted in it. That said, I did feel like it glossed over some of the details and challenges in favour of presenting the quick wins.
The issue of how slow institutional change is was also presented as an afterthought, even though it clearly underlies all and any institutional change.
I agree that the bottom line should not be cost - it should be producing, sourcing, and serving local food. At the same time, some of this felt a bit elitist for reasons I can't quite explain. There was hardly any talk of affordability, whether for the patient or student. Price points were hardly discussed. She does discuss the challenge of balancing revenue and sales with the essentials of just serving good food, but $5 for a yogurt cup is still kind of a rip-off, especially if you're a student.
Also, I get that the book was about changing food systems within institutions, but given that an important guiding principle behind all of this is sustainabililty - social, economic, and environmental - I don't think that the approaches taken were all that sustainable. After writing about all the work done at Ryerson, she talks about how she left when the administration changed and her work was basically dismantled. Moreover, a community food centre like the Stop seems like a great place and she spends a lot of time writing about it, and food banks are equally vital, but there isn't much discussion of the populations who need these types of services and are vulnerable and marginalized in the first place due to poverty, institutional racism, and other factors.
Some of this felt disjointed, with a lot of gaps. The author introduces - at the end of the book - how she got into cooking which I suppose led her to become a chef, but doesn't continue nor complete the story about how she became a chef. The notion of social gastronomy in introduced at the end as well, but would have made better sense at the beginning.
Structurally, the chapters were more like sections, and led me wondering when I'd get to a break or whether I was already reading about a different topic than when the chapter started.
The author mentions prisons and implies that her methods and experiences would apply there, but has no experience living or working in one. That could be a whole other book - but I don't think the hospital and university approaches would necessarily work. Yes, prisons are government-run institutions, but they are not parallel to the examples she gives.
Also, so much time spent on talking about cooking from scratch, but so few recipes at the end!
This book is part memoir, and looks at one chef's experience restoring hospitality and sustainability to food systems in a hospital and a university, namely The Scarborough Hospital and Ryerson University. Made me think back to my time working and studying at universities and what I have seen of one hospital's food, which is actually not that bad.
Having worked in sustainability at a university and being interested in food systems and food generally, I appreciated this book and the values presnted in it. That said, I did feel like it glossed over some of the details and challenges in favour of presenting the quick wins.
The issue of how slow institutional change is was also presented as an afterthought, even though it clearly underlies all and any institutional change.
I agree that the bottom line should not be cost - it should be producing, sourcing, and serving local food. At the same time, some of this felt a bit elitist for reasons I can't quite explain. There was hardly any talk of affordability, whether for the patient or student. Price points were hardly discussed. She does discuss the challenge of balancing revenue and sales with the essentials of just serving good food, but $5 for a yogurt cup is still kind of a rip-off, especially if you're a student.
Also, I get that the book was about changing food systems within institutions, but given that an important guiding principle behind all of this is sustainabililty - social, economic, and environmental - I don't think that the approaches taken were all that sustainable. After writing about all the work done at Ryerson, she talks about how she left when the administration changed and her work was basically dismantled. Moreover, a community food centre like the Stop seems like a great place and she spends a lot of time writing about it, and food banks are equally vital, but there isn't much discussion of the populations who need these types of services and are vulnerable and marginalized in the first place due to poverty, institutional racism, and other factors.
Some of this felt disjointed, with a lot of gaps. The author introduces - at the end of the book - how she got into cooking which I suppose led her to become a chef, but doesn't continue nor complete the story about how she became a chef. The notion of social gastronomy in introduced at the end as well, but would have made better sense at the beginning.
Structurally, the chapters were more like sections, and led me wondering when I'd get to a break or whether I was already reading about a different topic than when the chapter started.
The author mentions prisons and implies that her methods and experiences would apply there, but has no experience living or working in one. That could be a whole other book - but I don't think the hospital and university approaches would necessarily work. Yes, prisons are government-run institutions, but they are not parallel to the examples she gives.
Also, so much time spent on talking about cooking from scratch, but so few recipes at the end!
May 23, 2021
Before reading this book, I was familiar with the slow food/farm-to-table/local eating movement thanks to Michael Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma and Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle. However, those books mostly focus on individual eaters or family groups.
This book takes a deep dive into the world of institutionalized food service for organizations like schools and hospitals and how to provide food for the masses that is delicious, wholesome, healthy, and hopefully even local. The author has spent several years working with institutions to source and cook food those organizations can be proud of. In these pages, she share triumphs, missteps, and hard-won lessons she’s picked up up along the way.
I particularly loved reading about The Stop. It sounds like an amazing place to be nourished with good food, useful skills, and strong community. I had never heard of a place quite like The Stop before—a combination community garden, soup kitchen, food bank, kitchen classroom, and community center.
I appreciated that the audiobook was narrated by the author herself. It is clear both from the words themselves and her voice when she speaks them that Joshna feels very passionately about her work and her efforts to feed all people good, wholesome, quality food.
Thank you to NetGalley and ECW Press for an Advanced Reader Copy audiobook.
This book takes a deep dive into the world of institutionalized food service for organizations like schools and hospitals and how to provide food for the masses that is delicious, wholesome, healthy, and hopefully even local. The author has spent several years working with institutions to source and cook food those organizations can be proud of. In these pages, she share triumphs, missteps, and hard-won lessons she’s picked up up along the way.
I particularly loved reading about The Stop. It sounds like an amazing place to be nourished with good food, useful skills, and strong community. I had never heard of a place quite like The Stop before—a combination community garden, soup kitchen, food bank, kitchen classroom, and community center.
I appreciated that the audiobook was narrated by the author herself. It is clear both from the words themselves and her voice when she speaks them that Joshna feels very passionately about her work and her efforts to feed all people good, wholesome, quality food.
Thank you to NetGalley and ECW Press for an Advanced Reader Copy audiobook.
February 12, 2022
I have read so many books and articles decrying our current relationship with food, but they rarely offer concrete, practicable solutions. What I liked about this book is that it actually shows how change can be achieved. Joshna Maharaj describes in granular detail the work she has done to improve institutional practices around food. She demonstrates that change is possible, but she's also honest about the challenges that arise when a complex institution attempts to shift course. This is a coherently written account which clearly conveys Maharaj's irrepressible optimism. I found the practical sections more original than the theoretical chapters, but on the whole, this was an enjoyable and inspiring read.
July 22, 2020
Very readable account of the author's efforts to bring cooked-from-scratch, local foods into institutions (community, hospital, schools). She illustrates how difficult it is to do this because prioritizing the bottom-line has led to reliance on industrially produced and procured "food" and the systems set up around that take tremendous effort to untangle. Ultimately, however, she shows that it is possible to do this when institutional leaders recognize the value of good food and hospitality, and are willing to fight for the extra budget to provide it.
July 11, 2020
I am frequently disappointed in nonfiction books. They are rarely as interesting as the topics they cover would lead one to expect. This is a wonderful exception to that rule.
Very exciting, very inspiring. This woman is a powerhouse; I am in awe of the things she's managed to accomplish. I did also like that she included in the book things that did *not* work as she wanted them to, and what she learned from it.
Heartening.
Very exciting, very inspiring. This woman is a powerhouse; I am in awe of the things she's managed to accomplish. I did also like that she included in the book things that did *not* work as she wanted them to, and what she learned from it.
Heartening.
August 5, 2023
Food in large institutions is bad…but Joshna knows how to fix our massive food problems.
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I genuinely enjoyed this book and found it super interesting. As someone who struggles to eat healthy food, it really made me want to stop and think about what I’m eating and where it’s coming from more often.
This book made me hope for our future food consumption, dependence on big industries, and our planet’s health. Great read!
I was pleasantly surprised by how much I genuinely enjoyed this book and found it super interesting. As someone who struggles to eat healthy food, it really made me want to stop and think about what I’m eating and where it’s coming from more often.
This book made me hope for our future food consumption, dependence on big industries, and our planet’s health. Great read!
October 7, 2023
The best book I’ve read in a while. Incredibly informative and pushes for de-processing the process while including nuance that is so integral to the topic. A lot of these books have me rolling my eyes when a socioeconomic issue is painted over to push the message for better food but instead real evidence is used to show how we can make things more accessible for everyone. I will definitely read it again.
September 29, 2020
Really enjoyed Joshna taking us through her journey to food activism. From the humble beginnings of a community food centre to food services at hospitals and universities, Joshna shows us that change is possible, and our North Star should always be values that put people's health and the environment as priorities.
April 11, 2021
Loved the breakdown of the miserable hospital and University food as well as the reasons why it is worth investing the extra money in local, diverse, palatable food. Sadly, with the current administration (same across the country) being what it is, the bottom line will ultimately decide what ends up on people's plates.
Curious how the egg salad recipe from the back of the book turns out.
Curious how the egg salad recipe from the back of the book turns out.
January 12, 2024
I did enjoy this book, not enough to highly recommend. I was interested in the author’s journey and experiences, and while I did take away some ideas for my own work, I didn’t find the book as revolutionary as I was expecting. As far as small wins go, this book celebrates them well, which what I did appreciate about it.
December 27, 2020
An inspiring series of stories, and an honest portrayal of the challenges in building better institutional food. It is possible with passion and funding, and I'm glad there are people like Joshna taking on these challenges.
July 12, 2020
Interesting insight into institutional food and the challenges associated with trying to provide appealing meals.
January 3, 2021
Joshna's passion is infectious as she discusses the need for improvements in meals and processes to prepare and serve food in various institutions through numerous projects.
January 3, 2022
Anyone food-adjacent should read this book! Joshna’s ideas are electric and she shares them in concrete, understandable ways.
January 4, 2022
Joshna is a fiery, smart woman making such great points that I hope embolden readers into acting. She talks such an important issue with great heart and candor. Well worth your time.
January 18, 2026
4.5 stars
June 17, 2021
Thank you so much to @ecwpress and @netgalley for the gifted ALC of Take Back The Tray: Revolutionizing Food in Hospitals, Schools, and Other Institutions by Johsna Maharaj!
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Synopsis from the publisher: A beloved chef takes on institutional food and sparks a revolution with this manifesto, memoir from the trenches, and blueprint for reclaiming control from corporations and brutal bottom lines. “With hard-won insights and deep commitment, Joshna Maharaj takes us on a mouthwatering tour of what our collective food future might be.” ? Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System Good food generally doesn’t arrive on a tray, but Chef Joshna Maharaj knows that institutional kitchens have the ability to produce good, nourishing food, because she’s been making it happen over the past 14 years. She’s served meals to people who’d otherwise go hungry, baked fresh scones for maternity ward mothers, and dished out wholesome, scratch-made soups to stressed-out undergrads. She’s determined to bring health, humanity, and hospitality back to institutional food while also building sustainability, supporting the local economy, and reinvigorating the work of frontline staff. Maharaj reconnects food with health, wellness, education, and rehabilitation in a way that serves people, not just budgets, and proves change is possible with honest, sustained commitment on all levels, from government right down to the person sorting the trash. The need is clear, the time is now, and this revolution is delicious.
.
I am a huge believer in the healing power of healthy food. This book was both enlightening and at times frustrating that these institutions, that we should be able to trust to provide healthy food, will go back to unhealthy options when not pressured. This is a great book for anyone who:
-Enjoys foodie reads
-Would like a behind the scenes look at how menu decisions are made in major institutions.
-The progress and road blocks in making healthier options more widely available.
-Loves nonfiction.
Pub date July 2021.
.
Synopsis from the publisher: A beloved chef takes on institutional food and sparks a revolution with this manifesto, memoir from the trenches, and blueprint for reclaiming control from corporations and brutal bottom lines. “With hard-won insights and deep commitment, Joshna Maharaj takes us on a mouthwatering tour of what our collective food future might be.” ? Raj Patel, author of Stuffed and Starved: The Hidden Battle for the World Food System Good food generally doesn’t arrive on a tray, but Chef Joshna Maharaj knows that institutional kitchens have the ability to produce good, nourishing food, because she’s been making it happen over the past 14 years. She’s served meals to people who’d otherwise go hungry, baked fresh scones for maternity ward mothers, and dished out wholesome, scratch-made soups to stressed-out undergrads. She’s determined to bring health, humanity, and hospitality back to institutional food while also building sustainability, supporting the local economy, and reinvigorating the work of frontline staff. Maharaj reconnects food with health, wellness, education, and rehabilitation in a way that serves people, not just budgets, and proves change is possible with honest, sustained commitment on all levels, from government right down to the person sorting the trash. The need is clear, the time is now, and this revolution is delicious.
.
I am a huge believer in the healing power of healthy food. This book was both enlightening and at times frustrating that these institutions, that we should be able to trust to provide healthy food, will go back to unhealthy options when not pressured. This is a great book for anyone who:
-Enjoys foodie reads
-Would like a behind the scenes look at how menu decisions are made in major institutions.
-The progress and road blocks in making healthier options more widely available.
-Loves nonfiction.
Pub date July 2021.
December 30, 2019
Social Gastronomy refers to chefs that use food to create social change. Chef and author Joshna Maharaj embodies this entirely, as is evidenced by this book. Broken into three key sections surrounding first, community food centers, which caters to low income individuals helping to lower food insecurities and teach sustainable healthy eating. Second, hospitals which are supposed to be centers of healing and health and yet are serving patients dismal, reheated frozen food. And lastly, universities, which are to be an academic nucleus catering to the growth of young minds as they embark on the rest of their lives.
Each of these three focuses are places where individuals are to be learning, growing and thriving and yet the food they serve would seem to indicate the opposite. For instance, how can we expect patients to heal and get better – the purpose of a hospital – when the food they serve seems to indicate the exact opposite? Additionally, how can we expect college students to learn and thrive when we’ve let the “freshman 15” and cheap ramen meals become a right of passage for those obtaining their first glance of food freedom from their parents? This is not an okay way to think and Chef Maharaj addresses this as she rallies the reader into embracing social change in the fight for better.
Written in the voice of a friend and someone who cares, you can’t help but make this cause rise to the top of your list in pushing for change.
*Disclaimer: A review copy was provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own.
Each of these three focuses are places where individuals are to be learning, growing and thriving and yet the food they serve would seem to indicate the opposite. For instance, how can we expect patients to heal and get better – the purpose of a hospital – when the food they serve seems to indicate the exact opposite? Additionally, how can we expect college students to learn and thrive when we’ve let the “freshman 15” and cheap ramen meals become a right of passage for those obtaining their first glance of food freedom from their parents? This is not an okay way to think and Chef Maharaj addresses this as she rallies the reader into embracing social change in the fight for better.
Written in the voice of a friend and someone who cares, you can’t help but make this cause rise to the top of your list in pushing for change.
*Disclaimer: A review copy was provided by the publisher. All opinions are my own.
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