Did you know that the food system is the largest employer in the US, but it is also one of the worst for wages and working conditions? This is especially true for the already most marginalized groups in our country. The way we see it, food companies can either be a part of the problem or be a part of the solution. We choose the latter. We believe that anyone should have access to a good food job, and that every food job should be a good job. So we’ve made it our mission to help create economic opportunity for underserved communities through food.
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Creating Opportunity Through Food
Dedicated toCreating Opportunity Through Food
We use our resources — our time and our dollars, but also our skills and our platform — to bring our trademark integrity and charm to extraordinary and overlooked communities. A portion of our company revenue goes to non-profit organizations and social enterprises using food to create economic opportunity, and 2% of our team’s time goes to support these organizations in whatever way is most useful to them.
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Total financial contributions (monetary + in-kind) to nonprofits across the company:
- $272K
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Total hours volunteered in support of community organizations:
- 304
Teamwork makes the dream work.
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Total financial contributions (monetary + in-kind) to nonprofits across the company:
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Our Nonprofit Partners
IntroducingOur Nonprofit Partners
We’re honored to work with nonprofit partners who share our mission and lift up our New York City-area community. This includes the Food Education Fund, a culinary public high school program in New York City; Emma’s Torch, which empowers refugees through culinary education; Hot Bread Kitchen, which provides culinary training for women facing economic insecurity; and the Brownsville Community Culinary Center, which brings world-class culinary training to the Brownsville neighborhood of Brooklyn. We also support organizations such as BK Rot and Green Bronx Machine, which create green jobs through composting and urban gardening, respectively, as well as FEAST, which trains community health educators in communities lacking food security.
Hot Bread Kitchen provides on-the-job culinary training to help women facing economic insecurity enter fair wage jobs while providing the social support and resources needed along the way.
The Food Education Fund prepares and empowers its high school students, the majority of whom come from low-income backgrounds, with job and skills training curriculum, paid internship programs, and a student-operated cafe and restaurant to continue their education and cultivate personally meaningful careers.
The Brownsville Community Culinary Center, through its training program, offers access to delicious, healthy, affordable foods, job-training opportunities, and a forum to address and organize around community-related issues. Photo: Katrin Bjork
Emma’s Torch’s mission is to empower refugees, asylees, and survivors of human trafficking through top-notch culinary education and social support services to help them find meaningful careers. Photo: Edric Huang
BK ROT helps provide accessible jobs and sustained professional development for emerging environmental leaders as New York City's first community-supported, bike-powered, fossil fuel free food waste hauling and composting service. Photo: BK ROT, Edible Brooklyn
Green Bronx Machine builds healthy, equitable, and resilient communities through inspired education, local food systems, and career exploration vital for 21st Century college and career opportunities.
FEAST promotes health and wellness in communities through the power of healthy foods and human connection through its 16-week programs which uncover underlying causes of current eating habits in a step towards a healthier life.
Advocacy and Change
In addition, we support advocacy movements pushing for much-needed systemic change in the food industry. We are proud to support Women in Hospitality United, which was born of the #MeToo movement and works towards equity in the hospitality sector.
A representative from WiHU speaks to members about its mission.
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Spotlight on Culinary Education
Shining ASpotlight on Culinary Education
Food Education Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works directly with culinary-focused public high school students in NYC. The Food Education Fund runs job and skills training curriculum, paid internship programs, student-operated cafe and restaurant, and so much more. Our partnership began in 2018 at their founding site, the Food and Finance High School, NYC's only culinary public high school. Its students come from all five boroughs, 85% of them from families living below the poverty line. It all began in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan when the Food Education Fund hosted a student pop-up hot dog business to raise money for scholarships. Along with free condiments and some financial support, we pitched in where we could, with our finance team teaching students how to build a financial statement and our marketing team coaching them on branding and outreach. Today we support their now year-round, student-run cafe, and we continue to do teach-ins to help raise the next generation of food entrepreneurs.
Seniors from the High School for Food and Finance at their Hot Diggity food pop-up.