“Cook as you would for your own family...with love.” - DC Central ...

Sustaining
the
Soul of the city
When describing DC Central
Kitchen, people often use the old
proverb, “Give someone a fish, feed them for
a day. Teach someone to fish, feed them for a
lifetime.” That’s worked pretty well so far;
what we need to do now, however, is learn a
whole new way to fish. One way we are doing
this is through our Farmers Co-op.
In 2008, we began to make agreements with
local farmers to purchase their “seconds” or
“unclassified” produce at a price where they
can make money and we can save money.
In turn, we can put high-quality, nutritional
ingredients into our meals, engage more
volunteers and hire more of our graduates
to manage these extra shifts. In the second
half of 2008 alone, we purchased over 17,000
pounds of local produce via this mechanism
that cost us 52% less than if we had
purchased the same volume from
a wholesaler.
Volunteers work hard shucking fresh and locally procured corn
Whitt Masters and Bo Sims, Farmers Co-op Shift Kitchen Supervisor and CJT graduate in 2004, display vacuum-sealed donated produce
“ Ultimately, we hope to shift the paradigm from the
idea that nonprofits are charity, relying on handouts,
to the idea that nonprofits are smart community
businesses that can make their own money while
empowering the entire community.”
Mike Curtin, Jr., CEO at DC Central Kitchen