(Justmeans.com / CSR News) - Food Service & Social Enterprise

Social enterprise and foodservice have co-mingled for many years.  One rarely chooses a career in the kitchen for the money –-but rather a passion for the ingredients and for serving others drives most people into the culinary field -- and so it goes for those of us drawn to social service. Chefs and aid workers have a surprising amount in common.

The marriage of foodservice and social enterprise, then, is a happy coupling of mission and business.  Food is both at the crux of our survival (ensuring a steady market) and of our social interactions (bringing people together).  What better outreach for clients or donors than to invite them to join you for a meal?

FareStart and Kitchens With Mission have been members of the Social Enterprise Alliance since inception – and we are excited to be attending this year’s world forum in San Francisco along with CHEFS, DC Central Kitchen, Inspiration Corporation, Liberty’s Kitchen, St. Patrick Center and other foodservice social enterprises.  Recently, FareStart hosted a National Summit with these and other like-minded organizations to explore and evaluate the benefits of joining together as a national network to increase the collective impact of non-profits that work to empower lives, nourish bodies, and build communities through food service training and social enterprise.

The diverse group of providers joined the summit from all corners of the country -- Chicago, Boston, DC, Fort Lauderdale, Boise, St. Louis, Phoenix, San Francisco and Tacoma. All found common ground in their missions to provide training to individuals facing barriers to employment, prepare nutritious meals for disadvantaged populations, and self generate revenue through social enterprise. And by the end of the summit, participants had enthusiastically signed on to help incubate a collaborative, national network aimed to increase the collective impact of all the organizations involved. [more details].

There will be several opportunities to learn more about our niche in San Francisco.  Keep an eye out for these sessions and tours!

Kitchens With Mission - How to Document and Share a Successful Social Enterprise Model - Established programs collaborate on best practices, corporate sponsorship and measuring national impact; while emerging kitchens follow a prescribed path to success and benefit from shared lessons learned.

The DC Central Kitchen Growers Consortium - A New Way to Fish – Connecting local growers with your kitchen. Cut food costs while building a multi-layered social enterprise with positive effects community-wide.

Delancy Street Foundation: Since 1972, Delancey has created 12 successful ventures (including Delancy Restaurant) that have trained residents in marketable skills, created positive interactions between residents and customers in the community, and helped support the organization financially.

Juma Ventures: Juma youth engage in an innovative, award-winning program that integrates employment in social enterprises, college preparation, and financial literacy/matched savings scholarships. Juma employs youth in concessions for seven San Francisco sports venues including Candlestick and Memorial Stadium.

Blue Skies Café: A green-certified social enterprise that operates with the social objective of creating job training and employment for people who have faced barriers to employment due to their mental illness.

As you can see, this field is growing quickly.  Register here for the Summit and take advantage of this great opportunity to meet with peers or learn more.