Over the years, Philabundance has expanded its work as a food bank by working with 350 partners across the region. The organization served 42 million meals last year and tackled the root causes of hunger and poverty through countless programs and workshops.
The equivalent of that mission is a 16-week culinary arts vocational training and meal production program. This initiative promotes self-sufficiency among able-bodied low-income adults through cooking training and placement in commercial kitchen environments, while dually preparing meals for groups in partnership with Philabundance to alleviate hunger. It is intended to.
Since its founding, 1,000 students have worked in the kitchens of senior centers across the city and interned at restaurants, halfway houses, and more.
“One of the things we've done through this pandemic is put in place what we call a 'quality food policy,'” Jones-Brown said. “[Food insecure individuals] Social determinants of health and lack of access to healthy food have made the situation even worse during the pandemic. ”
Jones-Brown said 85% of the food sent to pantries based on Philabundance standards has moderate or high nutritional value.
Philabundance partners with the American Heart Association and the Capital Area Neighborhood Nutrition Alliance, also known as MANNA, to provide meals to those giving birth. Those giving birth choose between medically tailored meals that MANNA can provide, healthy meals provided in community kitchens, or free groceries.
The traditional option offered by Philabundance is a meal or meal voucher that provides food at or delivered to the grocery store.