Rethink Food
Rethink Food NYC Inc | |
| Formation | 2017 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Matt Jozwiak |
| Founded at | New York City |
| Type | non-profit organization |
Region | United States |
| Matt Jozwiak | |
| Winston Chiu | |
| Website | www |
Rethink Food NYC Inc, commonly called Rethink Food or Rethink, is a non-profit organization based in New York City. The organization was founded to address hunger in the United States by contributing to a sustainable and equitable food system. Rethink collects food excess from restaurants, grocery stores, and corporate kitchens to provide nutritious meals for people living without food security at low or no-cost. The organization expanded its operations in March 2020 to meet growing food demands amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.[1]
Leadership
Rethink Food was founded by Matt Jozwiak, who currently serves as CEO.[1] The organization's co-founder is Winston Chiu, who is currently serving as chief strategy officer.[2] In April 2020, Daniel Humm officially became Rethink’s head chef and a founding board member.[3]
History
2017-2019
Jozwiak worked as a chef in restaurants like Eleven Madison Park and Noma before founding Rethink Food. Prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, the nonprofit was preparing between 8,000 and 10,000 meals per week.[1] Rethink works in coordination with the Food Bank For New York City, which assists the organization in directing food to area missions.[4]
COVID-19 Response
In March 2020, the organization shifted its operations in order to serve the growing need in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.[5] As part of Rethink's pandemic response, the organization expanded to a national scope.
The organization launched a variety of programs and initiatives throughout NYC in the wake of COVID-19, including Restaurant Response Program and the Rethink Café and Restaurant models.
In April, Rethink began feeding as many as 10,000 people every 48 hours, averaging a total of 35,000 meals a week.[6] The organization began running a food truck program to deliver 5,000 free meals per day to hospital workers across New York City. Partnering with local commissaries to prepare the meals, Rethink was distributing food at 20 medical facilities via 10 pop-up food trucks.[6]
As of July 2020, Rethink food has provided over 786,000 meals to residents of New York since the beginning of the pandemic.[7]
Restaurant Response Program
Rethink Food launched a Restaurant Response Program to fund 30 New York restaurants with grants of up to $40,000 to prepare and distribute meals for underprivileged communities and essential workers. and to keep restaurant workers employed.[8]
The Restaurant Response Program allowed the organization to increase meal distribution, as well as help local restaurants pay rent and their respective staff.[9] Program participants include Fieldtrip, Collective Fare and Little Tong Noodle Shop.[10][11]
Commissary Kitchen at Eleven Madison Park
In April 2020, Rethink partnered with Eleven Madison Park, a Michelin-starred restaurant, and American Express to reopen the restaurant as a commissary kitchen with the goal of producing 3,000 meals per day for residents of New York and associated healthcare workers impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.[12][13] As part of the program free meals were delivered to clients of Citymeals-on-Wheels and to hospital workers across the city.[1]
Chinatown/LES Food Initiative
Rethink launched the Chinatown/LES Food Initiative in April 2020 to help produce and distribute culturally appropriate meals to the residents of Chinatown who were disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.[14] The organization worked with volunteers who went door to door throughout the neighborhood to distribute meals to elderly individuals. Asian restaurants like Zen Yai helped cook the food while the Chinese Conservative Baptist Church (CCBC) served as one of the main distribution points.[15]
Rethink Café and Restaurant
In 2020, Rethink opened Rethink Café, its first donation-based cafe, at 154 Clinton Avenue in Brooklyn. The cafe is a registered soup kitchen run by professional chefs which provides nutritionally complete meals for a suggested donation.[16] While there is no formal menu, the cafe offers options for kids and those with dietary restrictions.[17]
Partnerships
Partnership with Ghetto Gastro
In May 2020, Rethink partnered with Bronx-based culinary collective Ghetto Gastro to provide free meals to residents of the Bronx, especially low-income families, elderly residents, people of color, and formerly incarcerated people. The Bronx was especially impacted by the pandemic, and at the time had more coronavirus cases than anywhere else in the city.[17] The organizations offered relief funds to local eateries like the Oaxacan restaurant La Morada, who volunteered their kitchens and staff to prepare the meals. The organizations provided tens of thousands of meals to residents of the Bronx, and also provided meals to Black Lives Matter protesters at Washington Square Park and Domino Park in NYC.[18]
Ghetto Gastro produced a series of t-shirts with the phrase “Food is a Weapon” in order to bring attention to lack of access to food in the United States as a racial issue. Proceeds from the sale of these shirts were donated to Rethink, Color of Change, and other local community organizations.[19] Ghetto Gastro also partnered with Brooklyn artist Aya Brown on a limited-edition t-shirt collection, with all proceeds from sales going to Rethink and La Morada.[20]
Partnership with Brookfield Properties and USHG
In July 2020, Rethink Food announced a $1 million partnership with Brookfield Properties and Union Square Hospitality Group to produce meals for food-insecure families in New York City. The partnerships objective is the reemployment of restaurant team employees and the distribution of 125,000 meals in the South Bronx.[21] Rethink and USHG also launched a mentorship program that allows smaller restaurants to participate.[22]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d Srikanth, Anagha (2020-02-19). "How a Brooklyn nonprofit is rethinking food waste". TheHill. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Nierenberg, Amelia (2020-04-02). "New York's New Soup Kitchen Has an Upscale Address: Eleven Madison Park". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Cormack, Rachel (2020-05-06). "Eleven Madison Park, One of the World's Best Restaurants, May Not Reopen After the Pandemic". Robb Report. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Zorn, Sarah (2018-02-23). "Fine-Dining Chef Turns Food Scraps Into Meals for the Hungry". Eater. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Shin, Caroline (2020-03-20). "In a City Without Dine-In Customers, Restaurants Pivot to Food Relief Efforts". Eater NY. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Gould, Jennifer (2020-04-13). "Nonprofit rolling out food trucks to feed medical workers during coronavirus". New York Post. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Krader, Kate (July 11, 2020). "Danny Meyer Is Turning His Restaurants Into Commissary Kitchens". Washington Post. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "In Brooklyn, a Food Waste Nonprofit Retools to Keep Local Restaurants Alive". Non Profit News Nonprofit Quarterly. 2020-06-10. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "As Coronavirus Shutters Restaurants Across the Country, a Swell of Support for Workers Rises Up". Food & Wine. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Restaurants get creative amid coronavirus". ABC News. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Eleven Madison Park and Rethink Food NYC open a commissary to serve frontline workers". Time Out New York. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Stacey Lastoe. "A restaurant once dubbed the world's best reopens to feed first responders". CNN. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Adams, Erika (2020-04-02). "Eleven Madison Park Reopens as Nonprofit Commissary Kitchen". Eater NY. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Nonprofit Fights Food Waste to Feed New Yorkers in Need". Food Tank. 2020-06-09. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ News, Eyewitness (2020-05-11). "Coronavirus News: Rethink Food NYC launches new effort to save Chinatown". ABC7 New York. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help)CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Brooklyn Nonprofit Rethinks Food Waste to Feed New Yorkers During COVID-19". Resilience. 2020-06-10. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ a b Taylor, Elise. "Ghetto Gastro, the Bronx Chef Collective, Is Feeding Both Protestors and Coronavirus-Affected Communities". Vogue. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Ghetto Gastro and Rethink's mission to feed the Bronx expanded to support Black Lives Matter protests". Time Out New York. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Ghetto Gastro Uses Food as a Weapon Against Oppression". W Magazine Women's Fashion & Celebrity News. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Bobb, Brooke. "Aya Brown's Portraits of Essential Workers Give Thanks Through Art". Vogue. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Getting back to business, Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group to convert three venues to community kitchens". Nation's Restaurant News. 2020-07-06. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Cohen, Jason (2020-07-06). "Brookfield Properties announces $1 million partnership with USHG and Rethink to revitalized south Bronx restaurant scene". Bronx Times. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)