Part of the Food Policy Community Spotlight Series
Name: Rethink Food NYC
What they do: Rethink Food NYC is a program that takes excess food and trim from food distributors, restaurants and other service institutions (e.g. catering) and transforms it into delicious, safe, ready-to-eat meals for New York City food banks and other social service agencies.
How they do it: Current donors include some of NYC’s top restaurants and product suppliers, such as Eleven Madison Park, Frankies Sputino, Fleishers Craft Butchery and Baldor. Rethink Food NYC collects and inventories all donations, then transports them to their commissary kitchen, where their chefs pasteurize and transform them into ready-to-eat meals (in both family- and institutional-size packages) for delivery to their distributor, the Food Bank of NYC.
Mission: “Utilizing excess food for those in need.”
Latest project/campaign: They are currently working on scaling operations from pilot to full-time hours.
Major Funding: JB Foundation
Profit/nonprofit: Nonprofit
Annual Budget: $300,000
Interesting fact about how they are working to positively affect the food system: To date, Rethink Food NYC has served 1,498 meals.
FACT SHEET:
Location:
1441 1st Avenue Apt. 1
New York, NY 10021
Core Programs: Food rescue, tackling food insecurity, and working with community centers.
Number of staff: 3
Number of volunteers: N/A
Areas served: Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan
Year Started: 2017
Director: Matthew Jozwiak
Contact Information: mattj@rethinkfood.nyc
