In 2016 culinary school grad and restaurant industry vet Jacobsen Valentine started teaching a few children how to cook and bake simple yet healthy food at their parents’ request. The word quickly spread and before long, Valentine was teaching a Little Chefs class, promoting food empowerment through nutrition, cooking, and healthy lifestyle education. With continued expansion, Feed the Mass was created as Portland’s only non-profit cooking school for kids and adults alike, and a space for the time-honored tradition of coming together over food.
Feed the Mass partners with local property owners, grocery partners, regional farmers, and BIPOC businesses to educate people about healthy eating, provide workforce training and certifications, create job opportunities and manage excess food supply. They work toward the goal of ending reliance on processed foods, and ending food waste.
At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic Feed the Mass was forced to cancel cooking classes, and like most businesses during this time, Feed the Mass had to pivot. And so, the Fed Project- a free meal program- was born. The pandemic has increased food insecurity by as much as 70%, meanwhile restaurant closures or adaptations have caused food chain disruptions resulting in good quality food going to waste. From March 20 - December 31, 2020 The Fed Project made 118,364 meals for those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic and the forest fires. 5 days a week every week The Fed Project creates beautiful meals, packaged and ready to eat at the time of pick up or delivery. These meals are made using raw goods donated from local vendors and farms, cutting into Portland's food waste and preventing good ingredients from going into landfills. At this time, Fed project meals are being targeted at those hardest hit by the pandemic: people in marginalized communities and communities of color.
To learn more about Fed, hear from Jacobsen Valentine himself in this video:
Feed the Mass believes that “in times of crisis we have a chance to learn how to take care of one another” — a sentiment we at Equilibrium share. This month Equilibrium will match all in-office donations to Feed the Mass to contribute to this inspiring community program.
We will also accept material donations from the below list:
To donate directly to Feed the Mass click the button below: