Each week, Rethink Food  prepares 7,000 to 9,000 nutrient-dense, protein, and vitamin-packed meals  to be distributed to New Yorkers in need.

However, Rethink Food is serving much more than sustenance. In many ways, they’re handing out hope. Take the homemade bao — pillowy filled buns — for example, at Cameron Bakery in Chinatown. These Asian delicacies have become joyful treats many of the struggling seniors in the area look forward to snacki ng on.

Sadly, 12.4% of New York citizens ages 60 and older have faced the threat of hunger, according to data collected from 2019 to 2020 by  Feeding America. And in a PBS interview, Natasha Pernicka, executive director of The Food Pantries for the Capital District and The Allian ce for a Hunger-Free New York, said, “It’s not [a] default of character, or people aren’t working hard enough. We see people who are working multiple jobs and still don’t have the income to afford their basic needs.”

The rising cost of living in the city that never sleeps is getting more challenging for people of all ages. Residing in New York is more expensive than in London. Data collection project Numbeo reports it would cost approximately $9,500 to maintain the same lifestyle as about $7,200 would land you in Lon don. That report also found that on top of higher rents, groceries in New York are nearly 70% more expensive. Despite earning higher salaries than many in other cities, New Yorkers are still feeling the squeeze, and Rethink Food is working to reexamine how surplus food can be spared from getting recklessly wasted and instead put to better use.

“In our home city, our commitment has never been more important as we continue to face the deeply problematic fact that 1 in 4 New Yorkers does not know where their next meal will come from,” a spokesperson says. “We continue to pursue sustainable paths for our restaurant meals program, especially in funding our wor k in New York City.”

Rethink Food operates in all five New York City boroughs: Queens, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Bronx, and Staten Island. At Halal Gourmet Sweets Restaurant in Brooklyn, more than 9,000 meals have b een made and distributed through Rethink Food since early 2023. In Queens, Estrella Latina, which features Dominican flavors , has served more than 130,000 meals to New Yorkers since the summer of 2020.

In Harlem, the nonprofit partners with several local restaurants and community-based organizations such as Salem United Methodist Church and with the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce to provide meals to the Harlem community.

“Born and raised in Harlem, New York, I love New York. New York, the most exciting, entertaining city there is,” Barbara Ellison-Miller, executive director of Salem United Methodist Church’s hunger relief ministry, said in a YouTube video. “I look forward to what I can contribute to the church. It’s very fulfilling.”

“Leveraging funding from Rethink, a coalition of local restaurants and the in-house kitchen at SUMC supplied up to 9,200 meals per week to the general public,” a Rethink Food spokesperson reveals.

The philanthropic entity also works with the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce to provide meals to the Harlem community.

“The restaurants (recommended by GHCC) have strong community ties and provide a range of cuisine types from West African to Italian to soul food,” says a Rethink Food official. “To date, the Harlem partnership has provided more than 725,000 meals to the Harlem community while directing more than $3.6 million to support meal production through local restaurants, helping businesses remain open and sustain jobs. This synergistic relationship among SUMC, GHCC, and Rethink is a model for coalition-building across sectors: economic development, faith-based commun ities, and food access.”

In September, the charitable enterprise made its presence known in Queens’ Queensbridge Houses, the largest housing project in North America. Residents there eagerly lined up to get their portions of fresh Mexican and West African fare.

“Food is just such a powerful thing: Food touches everyone,” Eleven Madison Park restaurateur and Rethink Food co-founder Daniel Humm told News 12. “As we started this work, it just brought a lot of joy and happiness, and in the morning, when I get up, I know that the work really matters.”

Queens Councilwoman Julie Won expressed her appreciation, telling the local news station the food is fresh and culturally appr opriate and “really catering to anybody looking for food.”

Serving meals with dignity is a major part of the group’s foundation. Its team feels everyone deserves a nutritious, flavorful plate of fulfilling food.

Distributing over 15 million meals to date and giving back $50 million to small and medium-sized businesses as part of its efforts, Rethink Food pairs with restaurants, food vendors, and catering enterprises to gather excess ingredients to redirect it to its commissary kitchen to craft cuisine for at-risk New Yorkers.

How This New York Nonprofit Is Making a National Impact

Established in 2017, Rethink Food’s partnerships throughout New York with Whole Foods, Chelsea Market, and Brookfield Properties are making it a mainstay in food-challenged pockets of the state. More than 80%  of the m ore than 140 restaurants and businesses Rethink Food works with are women- or minority-owned or led.

Rethink Food is also getting into the science behind the economic, social, and environmental impact it has on restaurants in New York City through a study with global consulting firm McKinsey & Company. The report shows that the institution is keeping funds within New York City’s most vulnerable communities and creating 50% more job opportunities.

The work Rethink Food is doing to improve New York’s growing hunger crises caught the attention of NYC Mayor Eric Adams and NYC Council Speaker Adrienne E. Adams, who made March 27, 2023, Rethink Food Day to celebrate its milestone of serving 10 million meals. Rethink Food was also recently named ​​a 2023 Gamechanger by leading advisory, assurance, and tax firm CohnReznick  , which stated, “The program recognizes U.S.-based organizations that are embracing environmental, social, and governance principles to drive value for their stakeholders and improve business resiliency.”

In addition to New York, Rethink Food operates in Chicago, Miami, and Nashville, Tennessee. Rethink Food continually seeks volunteers, restaurants, and businesses to work with. Visit rethink.org to learn more about how to get involved.

We’re not a fan of this, it could be seen as insensitive for people struggling with food insecurity

https://x.com/rethinkfood/status/1719359849060843521?s=20

Rethink Food’s Commissary Kitchen

https://x.com/rethinkfood/status/1719359849060843521?s=20

https://x.com/rethinkfood/status/1711743535077020011?s=20

https://www.americashealthrankings.org/explore/measures/food_insecurity_sr/NY

https://www.linkedin.com/in/natasha-pernicka-21b6342/

https://www.pbs.org/video/food-insecurity-new-yorks-silent-crisis-hjkjce/ There is a transcript you can click on on this link

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/06/24/how-new-york-citys-sky-high-cost-of-living-stacks-up-to-london.html

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZNwJB-0RTjfhgb1B1lQhCmojwM48P3PGFw0hB_lVGAY/edit

Gourmet Sweets Restaurant

MEAL MAKER RESTAURANTBROOKLYN

9000+ meals prepared for local communities since early 2023

1107 Coney Island Avenue

Brooklyn, New York 11230https://www.rethinkfood.org/

I found this on the filtered map of partners on their website. I just filtered New York partners.

https://www.rethinkfood.org/

https://www.instagram.com/estrellalatinagrill

https://www.google.com/search?q=rethink+food+Salem+United+Methodist+Church&oq=rethink+food+Salem+United+Methodist+Church&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUyBggAEEUYOdIBCDIxNDBqMGo3qAIAsAIA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:4d292d39,vid:xl2izFaaELQ,st:0

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZNwJB-0RTjfhgb1B1lQhCmojwM48P3PGFw0hB_lVGAY/edit

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Rfw_Jwm09GT7tNlVH5T7LOx4aPL90nYNiU1vyDA9CrQ/edit

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qZHUx3QkOtffsDVAYVZvr5SQWfTl0NstezrzZCD0tDs/edit

https://www.rethinkfood.org/blog

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Rfw_Jwm09GT7tNlVH5T7LOx4aPL90nYNiU1vyDA9CrQ/edit

I meant who awarded Rethink? Please see what I did here

@joanie@statuslabs.com

_Assigned to Joanie Cox_

I see now

https://www.instagram.com/p/CzTysNluvCk/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==