Community kitchens: creating meals and jobs

Across the Feeding America network, 33 food banks run programs we call community kitchens. These culinary job-training programs address hunger by providing economically disadvantaged adults with the job skills they need to achieve self-sufficiency. 

Community kitchen students participate in a 10-16 week program, learning basic kitchen and cooking, food safety, and job readiness skills. The programs are taught by food bank staff who include professional chefs, social workers, and experts in adult education and offer opportunities for guest chefs and other local professionals to share their talents and experiences with the students.   

During their training, community kitchen students create meals to feed people in the community. Community kitchen meals are often served to children in after-school and summer programs or to adults and families in other food bank agencies. Other community kitchens create meals for local schools or home-bound seniors. Many community kitchens also include a catering program, expanding the educational opportunities for students while raising revenue to support their training activities.