OUR STORY
The Vision Takes Root
The story of Rethink Food begins in the kitchen of one of the most revered restaurants in the world, Eleven Madison Park. It’s there, in 2015, that a young chef named Matt Jozwiak had an Aha Moment. Working the line every evening, and cleaning up every night, Matt was struck by the volume of excess food and the enormous potential to address food insecurity by bridging the gap between unused food and those in need.
Launching Rethink Food
In 2017, Matt launched Rethink Food, collecting excess food from Eleven Madison Park, NoMad, and other restaurants, and developing operational systems to transform surplus food into meals for local communities, and laying the groundwork for its mission to create a more sustainable and equitable food system.
Scaling Operations
In 2020, during the COVID pandemic, the city was faced with dual crises—rising food insecurity and widespread restaurant closures. Partnering with Eleven Madison Park and Chef Daniel Humm, Rethink Food launched the Neighborhood Meals Program to empower restaurants and small businesses to prepare nourishing meals for local communities while supporting their operations. Over 2.4 million meals were distributed in collaboration with 60 restaurant partners and 119 community organizations. Chef Daniel Humm officially became Rethink Food's co-founder during this transformative year.
Responding to Crisis
In 2020, during the COVID pandemic, the city was faced with dual crises—rising food insecurity and widespread restaurant closures. Partnering with Eleven Madison Park and Chef Daniel Humm, Rethink Food launched the Neighborhood Meals Program to empower restaurants and small businesses to prepare nourishing meals for local communities while supporting their operations. Over 2.4 million meals were distributed in collaboration with 60 restaurant partners and 119 community organizations. Chef Daniel Humm officially became Rethink Food's co-founder during this transformative year.
Milestones and Expanded Impact
Between 2020 and 2023 our program evolved to center restaurants as our meal-making partners. Since our founding, we have invested $140 million into restaurants, adding a powerful economic engine to small businesses and communities in need.
Today
Today, nearly ten years since its inception, Rethink Food has a new Sustainable Community Kitchen to prepare meals for our community partners, we have launched Service, a new tasting menu restaurant, and celebrated the distribution of 30 million meals since our founding in 2017. This incredible achievement reflects the dedication of our restaurant partners, community-based organizations, and supporters working together to create a more sustainable and equitable food system.
