This post originally appeared on December 14, 2019, in Amanda Kludt’s newsletter “From the Editor,” a roundup of the most vital news and stories in the food world each week. Read the archives and subscribe now.
Eater Readers’ Favorite Food-Focused Charities
From the Editor: Everything you missed in food news last week
Amanda Kludt is the former editor-in-chief of Eater.
Last week, I shared a few of my favorite food charities and asked everyone to send me theirs. I’m listing them here. Hopefully, while you’re out there perusing all those wonderful food-themed gift guides, you take some time to give back to these great organizations.
- “MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger, focuses its work on advocacy for vital federal food programs. Food pantries do wonderful work, but they do not come close to the reach of programs such as SNAP, WIC, and others. As the current administration continues slashing these vital programs, MAZON’s work is ever more important.” — Robin (also rec’d by many others!)
- “My favorite food charity, in the eastern MA/Greater Boston area, is Community Cooks. The group organizes teams of individuals, and ... each team member cooks part of a meal, once a month, that together can feed many people.” — Ann
- “Giving Kitchen is one of my favorite charities, and I’d like to see them grow nationwide to support our foodservice workers in crisis ... This industry is one that currently fosters unhealthy living conditions, including the lack of support for mental health, addiction, and sexual harassment. The Giving Kitchen provides assistance to foodservice workers that experience these types of crises and we need more resources like this for the food industry!” — Julie
- “Georgia Organics works daily in Georgia to connect families to healthy, local food from small and organic farms.” — Jeff
- “My favorite food charity is Common Threads. It was founded by Art Smith in Chicago 15 years ago and teaches cooking skills and nutrition education to youth and families in at-risk communities.” — Geoff
Also recommended: Sustainable Food Center, Emma’s Torch, City Harvest, Grow NYC, Edible Schoolyard, World Central Kitchen, No Kid Hungry, and Blue Watermelon Project.
Go spend that money!
On Eater
- Intel: Blue Bottle will get rid of single-use cups and bags in its U.S. cafes, starting with two test cases in the Bay Area; New York Filipino favorite Maharlika closed; Sweetgreen started a fund allowing better-off workers to donate to colleagues in need; Colors is reopening as a cafe celebrating black food in New York; a branch of Dandelion Chocolate opened in Vegas; Dave Chang has a secret Korean BBQ spot above his Bar Wayō in New York; and a three-floor Japanese complex will open in the Adams Morgan section of D.C. next month.
- Take a sneak peek at the second season of our PBS show about immigrant communities around the United States, No Passport Required. The first episode, covering Filipino food in Seattle, aired last night, ahead of the big season premiere in January. Stream it now!
- One nation under corn dogs, with fried Oreos and pork chops for all: Meghan McCarron’s exploration of eating on the campaign trail.
- Watch: the craftsmanship of Xi’an Famous Foods’ hand-pulled noodles.
- Jenny Zhang on how the brands went off the rails in 2019 — and won.
- What to buy all your cool, restaurant-loving friends in London.
- Reviews: Is Tom Colicchio’s Craft still good? Yes, if you order correctly. Meanwhile, Williamsburg has a great new Roman spot.
- Everything you could possibly need or want to know about drinking in Montreal.
- Beans are so 2019.
- Two vital, related reads: this piece looking at the new apps connecting restaurants to temporary workers and this piece looking at the current state of chef wages.
Off Eater
- Playgrounds in America suck, and this landscape architect is trying to make them actually fun for kids and parents. [Curbed]
- This year’s TIME 100. [TIME]
- The 25 most influential rooms in interior design (including Stonehenge!). [T Mag]
- The rise and fall of ’90’s catalog Delia’s. [FastCo]
- An incredbly tragic and sweet story about young lovers at Auschwitz who reunited 70 years after the Holocaust. [NYT]
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