GCCA Staff Visits DC Central Kitchen

This past February, GCCA staff received a tour of DC Central Kitchen’s new headquarters located at The Michael R. Klein Center for Jobs and Justice in Southwest DC. DC Central Kitchen (DCCK) stands out as one of the nation’s most ambitious community kitchens and urban food hubs and has recently joined GCCA under the Food Maximization Initiative.

With the assistance of dedicated volunteers, front-line staff, and Culinary Job Training students, DCCK manages to convert 3,000 pounds of food that would otherwise go to waste into 5,000 nutritious meals for the DC community daily. These meals are loaded onto their fleet of dry and refrigerated trucks and distributed to over 80 partner agencies in the Washington metropolitan area, which includes homeless shelters, rehabilitation clinics, and after-school programs. DCCK is unique in its mission because it seeks to end the cycle of reliance on food banks. They take the issues of food security and job security and combine the two by training individuals to work in the food industry. In doing this, DCCK provides valuable skills, assistance, and jobs. They create both living wages and nutritious food all while respecting the dignity of their customers.

DCCK is looking to expand their cold storage capacity in the future to create and preserve more meals to benefit the community. Working alongside GCCA members, like Lineage Foundation for Good, and with the resources provided through GCCA’s Food Maximization Initiative, DCCK can grow the cold chain with best practices at the forefront and continue to redistribute food and reduce food loss and waste.

GCCA staff were able to see firsthand the unique experience that DCCK provides both its customers and volunteers. GCCA thanks Amy Zerante, Alexander Moore, Matt Schnarr, and the rest of the team at CK for their innovation and commitment to their community.