Its lunchtime on a Thursday; which, means it’s time to load the truck up and hit the road. The destination: John Glenn and Peggy Ann Alsup Arbors Residential Center.
Building a Resilient Community
Simple Snacks with a BIG Impact
Amid cooking club, homework help, reading intervention, book club, fitness time, and the hum of many more activities, the elementary through high-school aged students at Preston Taylor Ministries’ (PTM) after-school program gather two times each week over a snack prepared by The Nashville Food Project (TNFP).
Making the Most of Every Resource
We know that 40% of all food produced in our country is thrown away, but we also know that it doesn’t have to be that way. Last year, we began working with the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC) to ramp up our food recovery efforts.
Reconnecting with Family History Through Food
In honor of International Women’s Day, we are celebrating one of the incredible women we work with in our community gardens. Ifeoma Scott and her husband have been growing in our Wedgewood Neighbors Garden since last year after hearing about it from their friends Jay and former Meals Assistant Makisha, or Kiki as Ifeoma calls her, at Mt. Zion Church.
New Meal Partnership Supports Immigrant Families
Evidence has shown that the more parents get involved in their children’s’ lives, the better the children learn, behave and develop. The Nashville Food Project’s newest meal partnership supports programming that invites immigrant families into schools to feel at home in these spaces, in order to connect and engage with their children’s education.
Food Crosses Cultural Boundaries
It’s a warm day in early October at the Nashville Farmer’s Market, I’m sitting at our table, assisting customers and rearranging the produce as the hours pass. The crowd has just picked up, and I observe some curious onlookers eye the assortment of unique vegetables on our table: from spikey bitter gourds to long, curling beans…
Fuel for the Job
Five days a week, the office of Project Return, a nonprofit organization situated near a downtown bus line with views of the Nashville skyscape, hums with the purposeful activity of men and women determined to gain employment after returning from incarceration.
How We Cooked in 2016
With the addition of several new meal partnerships, 2016 was a year of unprecedented growth in our meals program. We opened a second kitchen at St. Luke’s Community House, doubled our meals production, nearly tripled our food recovery efforts and added a total of FIVE new positions to our meals team!
How We Grew in 2016
How YOU Nourished Our City in 2016
How We Shared in 2016
Thanks to the support of our incredible community, in 2016 The Nashville Food Project shared more food than ever before! Through a new partnership with St. Luke’s Community House and the addition of eight new meal partners, we doubled our annual meals production from 50,000 to 16 partners in 2015 to over 114,000 to 23 partners in 2016!
Best If Used: SAVE THE FOOD
Our Apple Guy
Partnering With Our Farmer Friends
Celebrating the Summer Harvest
Guest Chef Series: Hal Holden-Bache and Jaime Miller of Lockeland Table
Chef Hal Holden-Bache of Lockeland Table has been cooking with love in his heart since at least age 8. That’s when he began giving his “hard-working mother some time off,” he says. “I enjoyed cooking more than I did my homework. She allowed me to do that.”
Small Changes with BIG Impact
Nourish Nashville
Nourish 2016 did not disappoint! In its fifth year, the event raised more than $135,000 in support of The Nashville Food Project’s mission to grow, cook and share nourishing food.
This year’s event, held on July 28th at the Hutton Hotel, brought together 275 friends of The Nashville Food Project to celebrate recent accomplishments and enjoy an exquisite meal prepared by six of the Southeast’s most notable chefs.
The evening kicked off with margaritas prepared by Chipotle Mexican Grill, served alongside several delicious Mexican-inspired hors d’ouevres from Chef Nick Hertel of Merchants. Attendees ate and mingled while perusing the silent auction, which featured nearly 80 packages thanks to the generosity of our Nashville community.
Guests then gathered at the table to enjoy a five-course meal paired with wines from Lipman Brothers. Local food writer and friend of the Food Project Chris Chamberlain elicited many laughs from the stage as emcee of this year's event. The dinner included watermelon salad by Chef Bill Smith of Chapel Hill’s Crook’s Corner, curried catfish and grits by Chef Asha Gomez of Atlanta’s Spice to Table, Bear Creek Farms pork belly by Chef Matt Bell of Little Rock’s South on Main, and beef by Chef Cole Ellis of Cleveland, MS’s Delta Meat Market. After a rousing live auction, guests enjoyed a blueberry posset by Butcher & Bee’s Cynthia Wong as well as take-home cookies from Christie Cookie Co. on their way out.
Huge thanks to all in attendance at Nourish this year. A special thanks to our sponsors for making this year’s Nourish possible: First Tennessee Foundation, Chipotle Mexican Grill, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee Community Trust, Dorothy Cate and Thomas F. Frist Foundation and Whole Foods Market. We also want to thank our patrons, live and silent auction donors and in-kind sponsors for supporting this annual fundraising event. We are grateful to you for believing in and supporting the important work of The Nashville Food Project. Click through the photos below to see the night's highlights.
