As the Food Depository advances its mission of ending hunger, the need for healthy prepared meals is increasingly important. Older adults, people with disabilities, and our neighbors living with chronic health conditions are at increased risk of food insecurity and its consequences. Prepared meals can also be a life-changing resource for groups like opportunity youth (ages 16-24 not enrolled in school or the workforce), job training participants, individuals experiencing a housing crisis and others.
In 2022, the Food Depository resumed the Nourish Project – a transformational plan to vastly increase the availability of prepared meals for our community. The Nourish Project includes a 37,000 square-foot facility expansion centered on a new commercial kitchen for prepared meal production and shipping. While the new kitchen is expected to begin operations in spring of 2024, the Food Depository team is busy growing prepared meal offerings from its smaller training kitchen.
Food Depository executive chef Michael Goss works with the meal operations team to craft and refine menus that meet the unique needs of three different groups: Patients in need of medically tailored meals, older adults served by a home delivery partner in the Cook County suburbs, and guests at select partner food pantries.
"We produce food that looks great, tastes great and also happens to be beneficial."
Michael Goss, executive chef, Greater Chicago Food Depository
No matter the audience, Goss and his teammates develop each meal from scratch to be nutritious and delicious. Some meals are packaged and delivered hot, while others are flash frozen for safe storage and convenient reheating when the client is ready to eat. Examples include Moroccan carrot and lentil soup, tuna salad with whole grains, and a seasonal pasta bake.
The meals are crafted to be heart-healthy, with lean proteins, low or no saturated fat, controlled added sugar and whole grains.
Once prepared and packaged, the meals are distributed to Food Depository partners who get them in the homes of our neighbors who need them.
When the Food Depository’s new kitchen opens in 2024, we will have the capacity to prepare and distribute up to 2.5 million healthy, scratch-made meals each year.
The Nourish Project also includes a community partnership strategy to source additional prepared meals from minority-led entrepreneurs and organizations. This will increase the overall availability of meals for populations like opportunity youth while creating jobs and economic opportunity in neighborhoods that have endured generations of disinvestment and inequity.
Providing nutritious prepared meals for our community gives more of our neighbors the opportunity to be healthy and thrive. The Food Depository’s growth of prepared meal programs is a transformational investment in our mission to end hunger. And it’s possible with the generosity of our supporters.
