CONGRESSMAN DAN GOLDMAN PRESENTS $175,000 GRANT AWARD TO RETHINK FOOD FOR FOOD RECOVERY VEHICLES

Goldman Secured $9,036,948 for Projects in NY-10 in FY 2024 Appropriations; Funding Will Be Used to Purchase Two Additional Vehicles to Safely Collect and Preserve Excess Food Donations.

New York, June 11, 2024 – Congressman Dan Goldman (NY-10) today presented Rethink Food with a $175,000 Community Project Funding Grant Award, which was included in the final passage of HR 4366, ‘The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2024.’ Goldman secured $9,036,948 for community projects in NY-10 in the FY 2024 appropriations process.

The award will be used to purchase two additional vehicles to safely collect and preserve excess food donations. With an expanded network of vehicles, Rethink Food will be able to more efficiently transport and deliver nutritious meals prepared at its Sustainable Community Kitchen to food-insecure communities through a network of 12 community-based organizations across New York City.

“The $175,000 I secured for Rethink Food will be critical to scale their innovative work combatting food insecurity in our communities,” Congressman Dan Goldman said. “Their efforts vitally connect New Yorkers in need with nutritious meals. I look forward to our continued work together to ensure every single New York City resident has access to healthy, nutritious food.”

Matt Jozwiak, Rethink Food Founder and CEO said, “Reducing food waste and addressing food insecurity go hand in hand, and we're incredibly grateful for Congressman Goldman's financial support in growing our impact toward a more sustainable and equitable food system. Rethink Food will use this generous funding to purchase two refrigerated vehicles, enabling us to collect excess food donations that would otherwise go to waste more efficiently and effectively and deliver more meals to food-insecure New Yorkers across the five boroughs.”

Unlike traditional food pantries and nonprofits that primarily serve groceries and ingredients, Rethink Food focuses on delivering prepared nutritious and culturally relevant meals to serve its neighbors who do not have the ability to cook in their homes or who don’t know where their next meal will come from. Their partnership with other community organizations across New York City allows food-insecure New Yorkers to have high-quality meals, which may be their only source of sustenance that day.

Rethink Food’s Community Kitchen model has existed since 2017. Pre-pandemic, it delivered approximately 3,000 meals weekly to 8 community-based organizations in New York City.

Now located in Greenwich Village, the Sustainable Community Kitchen has expanded to serve as a hub for Rethink Food’s sustainability work, repurposing donated excess food into community meals, providing Environmental Social Governance (ESG) services, and engaging the general public on how we can reduce food waste and address food insecurity. Every week, it currently produces approximately 18,000+ meals, utilizing and repurposing ~11,100 pounds of donated and excess food items from a vast network of partners such as restaurants, corporate kitchens, farms, hospitality institutions, food suppliers, and grocery stores, that are distributed seven days a week at no cost across all five boroughs.

Since its creation in 2017, Rethink Food’s Sustainable Community Kitchen has rescued over 2.5 million pounds of food from 280+ food partners and delivered over 1.9 million meals to 40+ community-based organizations across the City.

Modeled after a “Programs First” approach to philanthropy and led by Culinary Director Ken Baker, the Rethink Food Sustainable Community Kitchen works to ensure the nonprofit thrives and delivers on its mission to provide nutrient-dense, restaurant-quality meals throughout New York City, reduce food waste, drive economic impact through local hiring for kitchen and trucking operations, and help businesses meet their ESG and Corporate Social Responsibility targets.

In New York City, Rethink Food operates in neighborhoods with the highest need in all five boroughs. The majority of programming takes place in vulnerable communities and those hardest hit by the pandemic, as defined and prioritized by the NYC Taskforce on Racial Inclusion & Equity (TRIE). These communities also report higher percentages of health and socioeconomic disparities.

About Rethink Food: Rethink Food is an NYC-based nonprofit organization with the mission of creating a more sustainable and equitable food system. In partnership with a network of local restaurants, community-based organizations, and food donors across the food system, Rethink Food has provided 23+ million meals to local communities facing food insecurity, directed over 95+ million dollars to small local restaurants and businesses, and repurposed over 2.3 million pounds of excess food since its creation in 2017. To learn more, visit rethinkfood.org and follow @rethinkfood on Instagram and X.