An Arcata retiree has spent the last month cooking up food for homeless dogs. Twice a week in her kitchen, Samaya Jones simmers scraps of meat and donated vegetables in a massive pot.
“My last batch, I was fortunate to score some beef scraps,” said Jones.
She cooks up meat like extra bits from turkey carcasses or pieces of fish, runs it through a food processor, and adds fruits, vegetables and rice to make nutritious and fresh meals that dogs on the streets will scarf down the next day.
Jones usually makes a couple of dozen containers’ worth of food twice a week, distributed to encampments in Eureka and Arcata by the Humboldt Area Center for Harm Reduction.
She was inspired to start cooking after seeing a man with two soaking-wet dogs at the Arcata Plaza one rainy Saturday morning. After bringing him soup and a towel to dry off the dogs, “I went looking for some jackets, some coats for his dog to keep them warm,” she said.
But she lost sight of the man and embarked on a journey to track him down to deliver the coats. She eventually found him in an encampment, and there, saw many people in the cold along with their dogs.
“I decided that these dogs need a decent meal once a week,” she said.
Jones, who studied nutritional science during college and holds a lifelong interest in alternative nutrition, is a staunch advocate for fresh foods. While she’s often handed out small bags of kibble, she wanted to upgrade the nutrition.
“Dried dog food is highly processed, and in order to make that kibble, it’s baked at like 400 degrees for extended periods of time,” she noted. She uses vegetables and rice to ensure dogs are getting their nutrients from food.
She’s worked as a private chef for people with restricted diets and said while there are some differences between dog nutrition and human nutrition, like omitting onions, much of it translates. She started cooking fresh meals for her own dog years ago.
“I had to cook organ meats for her. It was awful, because I’m a vegetarian,” she said.
She’s still not a huge fan of handling the meat.
Now, her freezer and fridge are stuffed with gleaned food for meals for dozens of dogs, and she spends a few hours a week at home working on the endeavor, which recently has involved processing lots of pumpkins after Halloween.
She said she’s very sympathetic to people who are homeless, but is left asking, “What about the dogs?”
“I’m a senior living on Social Security, so I have no cushion fall back on, so I understand how tenuous that situation is. I’m just saying that for some reason, what touches my heartstrings is the animals,” she said.
“They didn’t choose that life, and they can’t understand why they’re cold and wet and hungry,” she added.
How to help
Jones is having some trouble tracking down food donations, particularly protein, as many stores and farms already have systems for donating extra food. She suggested meat that’s been sitting in the freezer for six months or vegetables that might not be usable for human consumption. She’s also looking for extra takeout containers and kitchen space. Contact samayaj@yahoo.com
Sage Alexander can be reached at 707-441-0504
Dining and Cooking