Listen to the iHeartMedia interview with Brad Cecchi, Chef at Canon
Read more here: https://medium.com/@clay_nutting/family-meal-485fe0d21ead
A chef-driven initiative called “Family Meal” aims to help people in need by putting independent restaurants to work.
The founding members in Sacramento are Canon, Mulvaney’s, Allora, Camden, and Binchoyaki. We were provided guidance and support from Santana Diaz of UC Davis, and Rabbi David with Fresher Sacramento. We are also working with Nixtaco to launch an initiative in Placer County and Savory Cafe in Yolo.
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The writing was on the wall. Schools were closing, rumors were swirling, anxiety was rising, and reservations were disappearing from the books. Then on Sunday evening, March 15th, Governor Newsom addressed the state and issued mandates that turned the hospitality world upside down. One by one, restaurants started to announce their closure.
The very next day, a small coalition of independent restaurant operators met to brainstorm ways to save their businesses, take care of their employees, and as the need became more apparent, be of service to the community during this extraordinary time.
Our plan, called Family Meal, became an initiative to mobilize independent restaurants as micro-commissaries to create meals for at-risk populations. If funded, this program could help both restaurants and local farmers and purveyors in the farm to fork capital of the world while feeding thousands of residents across the region.
The founding members in Sacramento are Canon, Mulvaney’s, Allora, Camden, and Binchoyaki. We were provided guidance and support from Santana Diaz of UC Davis, and Rabbi David with Fresher Sacramento. We are also working with Nixtaco to launch an initiative in Placer County and Savory Cafe in Yolo.
The model is not necessarily unique. A recent article in the New York Times by Chef José Andrés of World Central Kitchen outlined this very approach as one that could be an answer to creating economic benefit for industries affected by the COVID-19 pandemic while feeding those in need.
Our vision, as we launch this initiative, is to develop an open-source model that can scale exponentially to include more restaurants, more communities, and serve more people in need.
We will continue to outline our findings as we move forward, but here are some basics about the program and our approach, including some ideas on how the program can get funded on a micro and macro level.
To donate,click here.