When crisis strikes, the culinary community is always among the first to respond in support.
It’s no surprise. Chefs are in the business of feeding people, of caring for others. Restaurants routinely become integral partners in relief and recovery efforts following domestic disasters by providing meals to impacted communities. So even when many restaurants were unable to continue operating as normal last year as cities shut down due to Covid, chefs still leapt into action.
The business impact and personal pressure of the pandemic on culinary professionals didn’t dampen their desire to serve. They fed kids and families, raised awareness about childhood hunger and advocated for policies that supported kids through the crisis.
With an estimated 13 million kids at risk of experiencing hunger this summer, chefs are organizing once again, teaming up with No Kid Hungry to urge Congress to take action. On Monday, April 12, chefs gathered again online to ensure continued progress for kids living with hunger, this time focusing on permanent improvements to the summer meal programs.
Millions of kids rely on school for regular meals. But in the summer, those meals disappear, making summer the hungriest time for kids at risk of hunger. Last year, with incomes lost, schools closed, and the uncertainty of the continued crisis, millions of kids seemed to be on the cusp of the longest and hungriest summer of their lives.
Instead, the 2020 summer meals program was able to reach more children than in prior years by waiving program restrictions. These program changes, among others, are the very policies our chef advocates will take to Capitol Hill. We believe these are the policies to have in place every summer - and the success of summer 2020 proves that they work.
Kids in our nation aren’t hungry because we lack food. Some of the most common barriers kids face in accessing the summer meals they need can only be solved with legislation. Chefs, understand the power of food not only to nourish, but also to nurture. As such, they are uniquely suited to implore our nation’s elected officials need to seize this opportunity to make lasting changes to these programs.
No Kid Hungry has brought its culinary champions to Capitol Hill since 2014. There, as business owners, employers and community advocates, they speak authentically to the issues affecting their cities and hometowns. This week, we once again convened chefs - virtually - in preparation for upcoming meetings with their elected officials in Congress. Participants included::
- Jason Alley, Alley/Jones Hospitality (Richmond, VA)
- April Anderson, Good Cakes and Bakes (Detroit, MI)
- Tyler Anderson, Tanda Hospitality (Simsbury, CT)
- Matt Bell, Gray and Dudley (Nashville, TN)
- Zach Bell, Buccan Provisions and Ember Group (West Palm Beach, FL)
- Abra Berens, Granor Farm (Gailen, MI)
- Jim Berrien, Ahl, Berrien & Partners (Westport, CT)
- John Brand, The Hotel Emma (San Antonio, TX)
- Andres Clavero, Galit Restaurant (Chicago, IL)
- Stacy Cogswell, FOODE + Mercantile (Fredericksburg, VA)
- Joy Crump, FOODE + Mercantile (Fredericksburg, VA)
- Tiffany Derry, Roots Chicken Shak, Roots Southern Table (Dallas, TX)
- Zach Engel, Galit Restaurant (Chicago, IL)
- Michael Fojtasek, Olamaie (Austin, TX)
- Joel Gargano, Grano Arso (Chester, CT)
- Asha Gomez, The Third Space (Decatur, GA)
- Valerie Gordon, Valerie Confections (Los Angeles, CA)
- Philip Grovit, Goldman Sachs and NYU Stern School of Business (Scarsdale, NY)
- Jesse Jones, Chef Jesse Concepts (Montclair, NJ)
- Andrew Kaplan, Rachael Ray and Beyond the Plate (Chicago, IL)
- Bill Kim, Urbanbelly Restaurant, The Table at Crate, Cornerstone Restaurant Group (Chicago, IL)
- Matthew McClure, The Hive at 21c Museum Hotel (Bentonville, AR)
- Jamie Malone, Grand Cafe (Minneapolis, MN)
- Patrick Mulvaney, Mulvaney’s B&L and Family Meal (Sacramento, CA)
- Kwame Onwuachi, Fifth Floor Hospitality (Los Angeles, CA)
- Rick Ortiz, Antique Taco (Chicago, IL)
- Capi Peck, Trio’s Restaurant, (Little Rock, AR)
- King Phojanakong, Kuma Inn (New York City, NY)
- Alex Roberts, Alma Restaurant (Minneapolis, MN)
- Kevin Scharpf, Brazen Open Kitchen, (Dubuque, IA)
- Rob Shepardson, SS+K (Chappaqua, NY)
- Gerald Sombright, Knife and Spoon, Ritz-Carlton Grande Lakes (Winter Park, FL)
- Nancy and Jerry Trice, Gunther & Co (Baltimore, MD)
- Luke Wetzel, Oven & Tap (Bentonville, AR)
- Kwame Williams, Aya Hospitality (Irvington, NJ)
- Brooke Williamson, Playa Provisions (Los Angeles, CA)
- Virginia Willis, Virginia Willis Culinary Enterprises (Atlanta, GA)
- Katie Workman, The Mom 100 Blog (New York City, NY)
- Cesar Zapata, Phuc Yea, Pho Mo and Arepitas Bar (Miami, FL)
- Nancy Zirkin, Strategic Consultant (Chevy Chase, MD)
Over the next few weeks, these culinary professionals will help to make plain the story of need in their communities and to underscore how Congress can modernize the summer meals programs to meet kids where they are with the food that they need.
Though vaccinations are helping to reopen cities, the economic impact of the crisis is likely to endure for years. Kids across the nation are in crucial need of these changes to summer meal programs to keep them from experiencing hunger. Congress needs to start Child Nutrition Reauthorization, a process of making changes to child nutrition programs like summer meals.
As Chef Kwame Onwuachi said as he addressed the group of advocates, “this last year, we’ve proven that change can happen when we speak up and use our voices.”
Chefs and culinary professionals are proving their commitment to their communities and to ending childhood hunger is stronger than ever.
