DC Central Kitchen Case Study

Cooking Matters participants learn to shop strategically, use nutrition information to make healthier food choices, and cook delicious, affordable meals. The No Kid Hungry campaign works to shine a national spotlight on the crisis of childhood hunger in America, creating a powerful movement of individuals committed to bold action. We build partnerships that enlist influential individuals in the cause and advocate policy changes needed to achieve our goals

Organizations and movements like the Black Panthers have really shaped how people can really make a difference in helping to change the food system. There are various non-profit organizations that are working really hard to help feed people that have certain circumstances including low-income, unemployed, and various others. Helena Lyson conducted a series of interviews with a lot of different people that had various backgrounds and races, all located in the near area of Oakland, California. Her finding that there was a little group of activist that are a person of color and people that do not have some college experience or a high school diploma. The majority was white women supporting and working for these organizations and this is great that different people are getting involved and are participating to help people that need these resources and support to have a healthy meal for

Michelle Woolley Sauter is the lead designer and owner of One Coast Design Corporation now based in Summerville, South Carolina just outside Charleston. Since 1995 Michelle has been giving back to charities close to her heart. Through her efforts of philanthropy during her 28 years in the State of Florida, she worked in conjunction with local and regional non-profit task forces dealing directly with hunger and homelessness of displaced children throughout South Florida and the islands of the Caribbean.

Have you thought about how much food is wasted? Just think about your supper last night did you throw any food away if you did have you ever thought about where it goes or what happens to it? Many people don’t realize that there is a lot of food that is thrown away every year. Not only do people in their homes throw away food but grocery stores also throw out a lot of food too. “Most people believe that grocery stores should donate their food instead of throwing it away but the reason why many stores don’t donate their food is because many stores either don’t want to get sued or many grocery stores don’t know that they should be donating it.” ( Jacobs)

Denny’s can impact childhood hunger in the US by working closely with food banks across the nation, creating food pantries, and creating community gardens in low income areas. Food banks collects food from many different sources and it also distributes its resources. Furthermore, creating a food pantry in high schools that are in low income areas can help families. Students who attend these high schools will also be from families who struggle with obtaining food. Moreover, students can come to the pantry and get some food for their families. In addition, a high school is a central location for numerous families. High schools Students can volunteer in expanding the food pantry, who will also work closely with the city’s food banks.

We don’t know what goes on behind those doors but I can tell you food is getting wasted. The food that doesn’t get eaten by customers just gets tossed away like it’s no big deal at all. But that’s the thing it is a big deal. Think about all the food you’re wasting. Food is a precious gift whether you folks see it or not. People talk about this word; what do they call it? [ self-awareness, somebody yells] that’s it self-awareness. So basically if everyone is aware of the issue then it will go away? Will people all of a sudden become aware? Not exactly…what we need is a worldwide movement about eliminating food wastage. But the only way to get the movement going is you folks. When you eat your plate of eggs and bacon enjoy it. If you get too full rethink your decision to just toss it out because no one will eat it. But guess what your wrong for doing that. Scraps are okay to get rid of but never toss fresh

Since its implementation, S.P.A.R.R have experienced a surge of students seeking to utilize our resources, but since our program is run by student-parent with limited times, the structural changes needed for our program has failed to keep up with its rising physical demands. As a result, many of the student parents who are in need of food security are turned away. Therefore, with the support of your organization, we hope that S.P.A.R.R Food Donation Program will meet with its structural demands by improving the consistency of their food services through better pick-up and coordinated food practices, its efficiency by hiring a group of interns that will be responsible for collaborating with other food justice programs and by helping us quantify our needs, so that we can present these changes to Financial Aid and make our program no longer

Metropolitan region are increasing simultaneously while donations to local food banks are decreasing. According to Federation of Virginia food banks, (2014) “Virginia’s 11.8% food insecurity rate means that over 912,790 people do not know from where their next meal will come. With the average cost of a meal in Virginia being $2.68, Feeding America ‘Map the Meal Gap ‘concluded that an additional $406,935,780 would be needed to meet the state’s food needs”(para. 1). The research further explains that “… With donations over the past years, decreasing by as much as 50% and food assistance requests increasing as much as 40%, our food banks are in crisis and need major support to meet the needs of Virginia’s food insecure” (para. 4). In addition, according to the Darden Foundation, (2014) “about 35 million tons of food waste reaches landfills and incinerators each year in the United States” (para. 1). Devising and implementing programs to reduce our food waste as well as a donation program, has multiple benefits for all stakeholders and the

In 2014, I proposed a cooking class in partnership with Penn Charter and the St. James School, a nearby middle school that educates underprivileged students in a rigorous, nurturing environment. I designed the program to address food access and nutrition. After fundraising and friendraising, it was successfully

In the last several years, food waste has become an ever-growing issue in the United States. We are starting to recognize the significance of food waste and the impact it has on our economic, social, and environmental costs. Americans buy more food than they need, this is a commonly known fact. In the United States about 30-40 percent of the available food supply goes uneaten every year. In order to understand and eliminate food waste we must remember that food is the most powerful basic necessity for human beings.

School lunches are often unsung heroes of many modern American households. Frequently overlooked and disregarded because of their stigma, school lunches are a key ingredient that may help make the world a better place. Unknowingly, great numbers of individuals in our communities deal with food insecurities every day of their lives. It baffles me that in an advanced society many people do not have the resources to provide food for themselves or their families. Until it affected me personally, I was unaware nor passionate about the struggles of food insecurity. My passion for solving food insecurity in my local community has led me to gain both experience and leadership through understanding and advocating for those around me.

The USDA claims that each year, 25.9 million tons of America’s food is thrown away, the equivalent to a quarter of the total amount produced. Nationally, the wasted food is a damaging financial setback, amounting to $1 billion just to get rid of during a time of ascending food prices, nonetheless (Oliver, 2007). Food waste has skyrocketed since 1970 at an astonishing 50% increase rate, yet according to the FAO, one-sixth of America doesn’t get enough to eat.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), food wastage, “food produced and not eaten,” emits enough greenhouse gasses (GHG) to be ranked third amongst global emitters (FAO 2013, 6). In New York City (NYC) it is estimated that businesses “produce more than 650,000 tons of food waste annually” (Turso 2017). This specific food waste is classified as food scrap, cooked food which is still edible, but no longer useful to the business due to a myriad of reasons. Whatever the reason may be for the company, this tonnage of food has the potential and possibility of being recovered for redistribution to food banks, soup kitchens, and other food rescue organizations. For example, two of the largest organizations in NYC, City Harvest and Food Bank NYC, will collect around 59 million and 24 million pounds in 2017 respectively, of unprocessed/non-perishable food. This is equivalent to about 42 thousand tons or 6.5 percent of annual food waste from scraps. Despite having warehouses, fleets of vehicles, and numerous volunteers, two of the largest organizations barely make an impact on the total amount of food rescued versus food wasted.

In America, we are constantly surrounded by abundance. Food is a prevalent waste item in the United States. Most people do not think about the resources it took to produce, transport, and prepare the food they throw away. Our food waste is not actually just trash; it is the key to human survival. Ordinary consumers can change the future with one small action: to stop wasting food. Actions at the individual level can decrease food waste and feed those in need. Twenty five percent of purchased food is thrown away. (TED) Often this is because food has spoiled, but it can be for other reasons such as oversupply, misread labels, or individual consumer shopping and eating habits. http://www.fao.org/docrep/018/i3347e/i3347e.pdf