Partner Spotlight: Rethink Food
As part of the NYC Food Waste Fair and Food Waste Toolkit, we’re featuring select vendors and organizations dedicated to fighting food waste. Stay tuned to catch our partner spotlights and learn about the many ways you can stop food waste all year long
“Our neighbors have been facing the greatest hardship in the past year with food insecurity rising at an unprecedented rate: In NYC alone, 1 in 4 individuals don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Meanwhile, 70 billion tons of good food is not making its way to anyone’s table.”
Rethink Food‘s mission is to create a more sustainable and equitable food system - one where everyone has access to nutritious and affordable food. The nonprofit organization was launched in 2017 by chef Matt Jozwiak, who saw firsthand how much good food from restaurants goes underutilized. Rethink Food was started with the objective of transforming excess food from restaurants, corporate kitchens, and grocery stores into nutritious meals for communities facing food insecurity, and then distributing them via community-based organizations (CBOs).
This has since evolved into a framework of three practical models to address food insecurity across communities - The Rethink Certified Program, the Rethink Cafe, and the Rethink Commissary Kitchen. Each of these programs work to deliver nutritious and culturally sensitive meals to communities impacted by food insecurity:
Rethink Certified is a partnership program with restaurants that prepare nutritious meals for communities, which are then distributed through community-based organizations. Since its launch in April 2020, Rethink Food has prepared over 4.5 million meals and directed $25M to communities and restaurants in cities like New York, San Francisco, Chicago, and Nashville.
The Rethink Cafe opened in March 2020 and is located at 154 Clinton Avenue in Brooklyn. The Cafe is one of New York City’s first pay-what-you-can community cafes, inviting everyone and anyone to enjoy a nutritious meal for a suggested donation of $5. The daily-changing hot meals are prepared by chefs, utilizing donated and excess food. Additionally, the site stocks a food pantry featuring grab-and-go meals.
The Commissary Kitchen transforms excess and donated food from grocery stores, corporate partners, and restaurants into nutritious meals. Meals are then distributed to communities impacted by food insecurity through CBOs. On average, the kitchen provides over 7,000 meals a week.
Learn more about Rethink Food and their mission to create a more sustainable and equitable food system at rethinkfood.org.