Notes from the Field: Joining the Board of L.A. Kitchen

Los Angeles, California – 2015: Jennifer Gross met Robert Egger in 2012, when he was president of the DC Central Kitchen, the country’s first “community kitchen.” Inspired by his work, Jennifer reached out to Robert, and at their meeting she presented his first individual donation to help build L.A. Kitchen for Fifty Thousand Dollars.

L.A. Kitchen was founded in 2013 and is located in a 20,000 sq. ft., two–level processing kitchen in NE Los Angeles. It also operates Strong Food, a “wholly owned, for-profit subsidiary that hires training program graduates and competes for food service contracts, with an emphasis on opportunities to serve healthy senior meals.”

L.A. Kitchen is built around social enterprise, and it tackles many different problems in one fell swoop. Their Mission:

L.A. Kitchen believes that neither food nor people should ever go to waste. By reclaiming healthy, local food that would otherwise be discarded, training men and women who are unemployed for jobs, and providing healthy meals to fellow citizens, L.A. Kitchen empowers, nourishes, and engages the community.

Robert Egger asked Jennifer to join the board in November of 2014. She also serves on the L.A. Kitchen Board’s Audit Committee. She says: “Every board operates a little differently, and on this one everyone participates in both positive and difficult times. We meet frequently when LA Kitchen need ideas about making money or selling a product. We’ll take a whole Saturday to brainstorm. This dynamic has driven me to feel comfortable about influencing the direction of an organization, when and where it’s needed.

Russ Parsons profiled Robert and L.A. Kitchen for the L.A. Times in August of 2015, and he broke down the L.A. Kitchen’s holistic ecosystem of good succinctly:

Here’s how it works: Fruits and vegetables that either haven’t been sold or are unsalable because of cosmetic defects are collected from farmers markets and produce wholesalers by gleaning groups such as Food Forward and delivered to L.A. Kitchen.

Culinary students — … a mix of older men and women who have been recently incarcerated and younger kids who have just timed out of foster care — prepare dishes from those fruits and vegetables…

Then groups such as Meals on Wheels deliver that food to the hungry — mainly low-income senior citizens, a rapidly growing demographic that previously had been served mainly shelf-stable, processed food.

In addition to being a dynamic organization serving the people of Los Angeles, the L.A. Kitchen model is being replicated around the United States, thanks to Robert’s vision being “open source.” He travels to teach organizations all over the U.S. how to follow his model, understanding that as the number of seniors in the country’s population rises, their collective need for healthy meals and people checking in on them regularly will also rise. Empowering others to meet these needs in communities beyond L.A. Kitchen’s reach is evidence of the far-sightedness of its mission.

Jennifer recognizes the strength of a great organization often relies on a great leader, and often travels to hear Robert speaking to relive his passion again and again. “It’s an honor to be recognized as a board member for such an outstanding organization in the city of Los Angeles.”