First Blog Post Ever!

 The NW Philadelphia Vegetarian/Vegan Food Swap was created in November 2009 by Nancy Creighton with the intention of bringing the ASL and hearing community together. The original setup paid a volunteer ASL interpreter in shares of the pre-packaged food participants contributed to the event (so we would all make X servings of food to go, plus one, plus something for the tasting table). Our regular interpreter at the time was Judy Nelson, though on occasion another interpreter would bridge the communication gap. The swappable servings were gathered in a separate room, and the tasting and socializing part of the event happened in her livingroom on couches, chairs, side tables, and her kitchen counter. 

This model went on for years, until Nancy experienced a tragedy around 2012/2013. I, too, was beset by a different tragedy around that time as well. Nancy and I had different reactions to the profound grief we each felt, and I took over management of the group. Without Nancy at the helm, fewer non-hearing people attended, interpreters were hard to find, people were being turned away (as there was a waitlist at the time), and food was going to waste. The model had to adjust to an absence of ASL members, and I took over. The tastings happened around a single table where food was served (family-style), as it continues today.

What struck me most about the difference is that among ASL communicators, small groups are infinitely preferable to the larger table setting—there is less chance of missing out on conversations between small groups and less distraction among communicators, something that happens frequently among the hearing community when we catch a snippet of conversation around the table. Nancy made it clear that the interpreter isn’t there specifically “for” the deaf person: The ASL interpreter enables us to converse and connect with our ASL friends. The interpreter is for EVERYONE, because ideally everyone is important to everyone else in a community. The point of food swap, after all, is community. 

Nancy no longer communicates with me and unfortunately without Nancy deaf people aren’t signing up. I’m sad the division exists and the majority won, but as part of the majority, I am honored to keep some semblance of the Food Swap alive and running, and I hope this bit of history will serve as a tribute to the origins of this group and to Nancy.