The Power of Food Revealed: Robert Egger’s Visit to the Ranch
The Jewish Food Justice Fellowship hosted a discussion with Robert Egger, Founder and President of L.A. Kitchen and D.C. Central Kitchen, on June 24 in Barn 2 at the Ranch. Egger motivated the attendees to consider the roots of our current food system, reframe our understanding of the issues we face, and think creatively about ways to address hunger while creating jobs and building the local economy. More than 90 nonprofit leaders, food system advocates, local residents and business owners were inspired to consider how Egger’s social enterprise models for kitchen incubation, food recycling, and culinary job training could be applied in the San Diego region.
Egger shared his plans for L.A. Kitchen and how it will not only open but “widen” doorways to employment for hard-to-place job seekers. L.A. Kitchen’s culinary job training program prepares youth aging out of foster care and older adults exiting the prison system for jobs in the food service and healthcare industries as certified food handlers and puts valuable work experience on their resumes. The program takes a whole-person approach through a combination of vocational training, incorporating culinary arts, life skills, nutrition education, community advocacy, and professional development.
Earlier in the day, Egger delivered a presentation to local foundations and donors entitled, “Breaking Bad (Funding Habits).” The session was organized by San Diego Grantmakers and sponsored by the Leichtag Foundation. Egger challenged the group to make advocacy a grantmaking priority, to identify opportunities for social enterprises to partner with local governments, and to start preparing now for an aging society with limited financial resources.
Watch below for Robert Egger’s complete presentation:
Black, Jewish and Queer. These three identities weave the fabric of who I am, but it took a long time to believe that they could exist together.
Lee and Toni Leichtag established the Leichtag Foundation in 1991 following the sale of their business. Lee and Toni were lifelong entrepreneurs with a passion for innovation and for supporting talent. They believed that only with big risk comes big reward. Both born to families in poverty, Toni to a single mother, they strongly believed in helping those most in need and most vulnerable in our community. While they supported many causes, their strongest support was for young children and the elderly, two demographics who particularly lack voice in our society.
Lifelong Baltimoreans, Rabbi George and Alison Wielechowski and their sons, 11-year-old Lennon and 9-year-old Gideon, are more than pursuing the good life in Southern California. Having moved to San Diego more than three years ago, they are fulfilling a lifelong dream.
You would think that as the executive director of San Diego LGBT Pride, Fernando Zweifach López Jr., who uses the pronoun they, has done all the coming out they possibly can. A queer, non-binary individual who has worked for many years on civil rights issues, López also speaks openly and often about their father’s family, Mexican-American migrant workers who tilled the fields of rural California.
Stacie and Jeff Cook understand commitment. They live it.
