I recently visited Rethink Food, an organization creating a more sustainable and equitable food system. After finding the organization online, I wanted to learn more about what they do and hear the founder’s story. Their storefront, located on Houston Street, was a welcoming environment with a kitchen where they prepared their “repurposed meals.” I wasn’t sure what to expect, but their friendly team immediately welcomed me, eager to answer my questions. I was fortunate to talk with culinary director Ken Baker and Operations Executive Assistant Patrice McGloin about their mission.
Rethink Food takes excess food from restaurants and grocery stores from all around New York City. The food is then brought into their kitchen and made into meals to ensure their clients feel dignity and respect while eating fresh chef-prepared meals. They have 50 community partners to whom they deliver the packaged meals.
Interestingly, Rethink Food tries to match restaurants with community organizations that fit the demographic. For instance, McGloin explained, the restaurant “46 Mott Street in Chinatown, [does] a really great meal service for an elderly care center that is in Chinatown as well, so the food matches the population.”
The organization started when Matt Joziwak, founder and CEO, was a chef by training and witnessed firsthand the amount of food underutilized. Joziwak “saw all this food waste happening out of the top restaurants and grocery stores and thought, ‘why are there so many food insecure people? One out of four New Yorkers are food insecure, so how do we help to bridge that gap between this food that’s going to waste to people who are in need?’” said McGloin. Before Rethink Food was the storefront it is today, it was simply Joziwak picking up excess food from restaurants and preparing the repurposed food himself. However, the organization has since expanded. “We have grown into an organization that provided close to 30 million meals during most of our time,” he added, “and there are multiple prongs on the way that we do that.”
While visiting, I got the chance to see Rethink Food in action. The kitchen was filled with a team of chefs cooking chicken for the greater New York community, with immense effort and attention to detail put into each plate. McGloin emphasized, “One thing we pride ourselves on is that we are restaurant people, that means making restaurant quality meals, and not simply taking the lettuce we got and repurposing it so we can sell it.” Rather than expecting the bare minimum, Rethink Food goes above and beyond with its quality and focus on health.
On my tour, I also learned about their in-house AI system that tracks food waste so they can maximize the ingredients they are cooking with. McGloin explained, “So let’s say you realize you are wasting a lot of greens, [then we can] change the way we chop them so we are repurposing them more effectively.”
I really enjoyed learning more about the organization and plan to stay connected in the future. They are open to hiring volunteers and hosting events, and I’m sure they would be happy to welcome you into their space. For information, visit their website or stop in the storefront.
