10/25/2025
Since opening our doors in 2019, our goal at TAK has always been as a place where we bring people together, to feed more than just stomachs, but to feed the soul, offering fresh, food options using locally sourced, seasonal ingredients, and making sure our customers always feel welcome.
Its a place where we tell dirty jokes, and call inanimate objects the C dash dash dash word.
Its where we've seen your babies grow into toddlers, toddlers into teens, and teens into adults who go off to do amazing things, yet always return to their roots, even if its just for the weekend.
Its where you'll find me, late at night, baking scones and ugly crying because Im exhausted, but my brain is too fired up to sleep.
It's where you'll find my boy, working behind the counter, taking his time to make sure you get the correct change, because his brain works in a different way. Its where you'll find Chef in the kitchen, kneading dough and ladle-ing piping hot soup into cups.. He may not say much, but he hears everything.
This s**t with SNAP has got me feeling some kind of way, and since a big part of what I do involves feeding people, I feel its something I cannot ignore.
You dont have to agree with me. You can just keep on scrolling, unfollow and call it a day. Like Ive said before, opinions are like as****es- we all have one , and they usually stink. But when it comes to meeting basic needs for the survival of you and yours, food, is not a privilege, it's a right.
I think one of the things that's been holding me up on completing the book, is that in addition to all the challenges that come with running a small business, like an oven that wont heat up or a fridge that turned everything in it to soup, or having a day like last Sunday, where only seven people came in, and our total for the day was less than what we spent for the ingredients. Finding the inspiration and energy amidst the absolute chaos that we all face, day in, day out, inundated with rhetoric and uncertainty of what the next day may bring, and hoping against all hope, that at some point, the party of common sense will somehow prevail.
Because its not about political affiliation, its about doing what's right.
Food, is not a privilege. It is a right. It, not unlike water, is a necessity for our survival as a species, which isnt defined by race or gender, socioeconomic status or demographic, its defined by being able to feed your family, regardless of what that family looks like.
Eliminating the SNAP program, doesnt just target those who "abuse the system" it effects veterans, seniors, the disabled and kids- human beings, who depend on their benefits because the only other choice is to starve.
And I can tell you with one hundred percent certainty, these people, arent the ones trying to abuse the system.
Having once been a recipient of SNAP, I can say that without it, I would not have had the means to be able to afford to feed myself or my family. I worked two, sometimes three jobs, (there's only so much time in a day) went to school full time, and every dime I had, went to pay for my rent, and basic utilities. I didnt have family that was able to help me out. I gave plasma twice a month, just so that I'd have a few bucks to be able to go out with friends, and have money for gas, (when I actually had a car) I learned how to do things, like change my own oil, replace broken tile, and cut my own hair, because I didnt have the resources to be able to fork over hundreds of dollars to call someone to do it for me.
I survived on mini pizzas, canned tuna and ramen noodles. Ordering pizza or Chinese was a luxury, that only occurred if I didnt pay for something else.
When Boy r Dee was little, I was a SAHM who had a side hustle selling all natural bath & body care items at our local Farmers Market.
Chef, worked a forty hour a week job in Dining services at WCC, making just under ten bucks an hour, with a biweekly net income between 680-700 dollars. We lived in an old 1980s manufactured home, that was in a park where lot rent was $425+ per month, and went up annually by fifty to a hundred dollars, on top of the 500+ mortgage payment we had, because no one had ever taught us about using credit responsibily, (something we learned much later in life) and our credit scores were only "good" if you added them together.
We received $160 a month in SNAP on a 15k a year combined salary.
That's ten thousand dollars below the federal poverty guideline for a single person household, and we were a family of three.
Both Chef and I have college degrees, but when the economy tanked in 2008, I lost my job and half our income. Day Care was out of the question, so I spent my days scouring the classifieds, tiny tot in tow, waiting to hear back from employers paying half of what I was making before, and the only thing louder than my sons colicy cries, was the silence on the other end of the phone.
Our local Farmers Market became a haven, because there, I could use my EBT card to get tokens to pay for things like produce, which at that time, were cheaper and fresher, than buying them at the store. For us, a home cooked meal had become a box of Hamburger Helper, chicken nuggets and fries.
To this day, I refuse to eat chicken nuggets.
F*ck those nuggets.
And then Chef got a raise.. which normally would be cause for celebration. But for us, that
fifty cents extra an hour, put us ninety dollars over the max income line, and reduced our SNAP benefits to $10.
Ten. F*cking. Dollars.
a month.
Even in the early 2000's , you could barely buy a loaf of bread, a pack of cheese and peanut butter for ten bucks.
I told them to take that $10 and shove it.
I'd rather give hand jobs to strangers.
It was like poor Charlie Brown on Halloween when all he gets is a sack full of rocks.
Or a handful of c*cks if you opt for the latter.
In 2025, the current Federal Minimum wage is 7.25/hr. And while some states have their own State minimum wage, such as Michigan, where minimum wages are higher than the federal rate, (MI 12.48/hr) in states that do not have a state set minimum wage, the Federal minimum wage of 7.25/hr, still applies.
You do the math
In 2025, a single adult needs to make at least 16.27/hr or 34k annually, while a family of four would need to make almost 70/hr or 87k annually, to cover their basic expenses.
A "living wage" is only "living", if the rest of the market is at a standstill.
I'm not okay with taking away benefits that prevent kids from going to bed hungry. I'm not ok with feeding seniors, over processed crap because its cheaper than providing them with the means to make a hot meal. I am not ok, with making a parent choose, between feeding their child, or paying the bill to keep the heat on.
Because the reality of the matter is,
s**t happens..
People get sick, lose their jobs, a head of household dies, a hurricane comes and sweeps an entire lifetime into the sea, and insurance only wants to pay for twenty four shingles.
Because for the majority of people who are on SNAP, it wasnt a choice, it was a necessity.
So starting November 2nd, every Sunday we will be offering a meal, soup kitchen style, at our brick & mortar.
If you're able to pay, even if its just a buck, throw it in the pot, and we will apply it towards the next weeks meal. If not, that's okay too.
We got you.
Whether you're a party of one or a family of six, every Sunday we will have a meal for you.
It might be chili, it might be soup, but it will be hot, ready and waiting.
We will also have Turkey & Cheese and Ham & Cheese sandwiches on whole wheat. PB & J? Sure, I'll make those too, all wrapped and ready to go.
Ill also be putting out a non perishable donation box. Our "Need a Penny" box will be available for things like canned goods, fruit cups, granola bars and pantry staples like peanut butter, jelly and mayo.
Working on the same philosophy as "Need a Penny" if you need something, help yourself. If you have something, leave it to help another.
It's that simple.
If you'd like to donate a gift card, for places like Kroger, Meijer, or Visa type gift cards that can be used online to order groceries, for those that may not have reliable transportation to get to the store, we'll take those too, and distribute them on Sundays on a fcfs basis. Ill even deliver to your door if you're local and aren't able to stop in.
Im a firm believer in what goes around, comes around. Every day, I wake up, and think "What can I do to make today better?"
Every day is the chance to do better.
And this is a way to start
