Food for the Soul

The true purpose of cooking is to make you and others smile. Food does more than just feed our bodies, it nourishes our hearts. Whenever we think back to our fondest memories, food is always involved one way or the other.

For this Challenge, we’ll be matching the grand prize as a donation to an organization that also fills our hearts, The Okra Project.

"The Okra Project is a collective that seeks to address the global crisis faced by Black Trans people by bringing home cooked, healthy, and culturally specific meals and resources to Black Trans People wherever we can reach them."

We want to know what recipe makes you and others feel special. What meals bring back sweet memories or have a significant meaning to you?

Think back to family holiday staples, or the first meal you and your roommate cooked at your first apartment, or the one recipe that everyone always wants you to bring to a cookout! Whatever it may be, as simple or complex as you’d like, we want you to share a recipe that brings a smile to your face and feeds your soul. Tell us why this recipe is such a fond memory and what makes it so special to you.

We're excited to see what you'll cook up!

For your story to be eligible, it must be between 600 and 5,000 words and adhere to our Community Guidelines. Stories published on Vocal and entered into the contest up until October 12, 2020, at 11:59 PM EST will be entered for consideration. Official Rules for the Challenge can be found here.

To be eligible to win the grand prize, second place, or third place prizes, you must be over the age of 13 and residing in a country where Stripe is available at the time of entry. A complete list of countries where Stripe is available can be found here—winners will need to have a Stripe account created and connected in order to receive the prizes. For this reason, entrants located outside of any of these 35 countries will not be eligible to win.