Tired of seeing large amounts of perishable food go to waste, a Lawrence-based food pantry made an unusual move: opening up its own kitchen to turn surplus food into prepared to-go meals.
Most food pantry programs provide bags of groceries to folks needing a little extra help so they can prepare their own meals. But faced with large amounts of perishable food not suitable for grocery bags and a clientele looking for prepared meals, the nonprofit Just Food found a novel solution. It’s called Chop Shop, a program where fresh, perishable food that would usually head to a landfill is turned into meals in a dedicated kitchen.
“We have a lot of individuals that work three, four jobs and they’re still not making ends meet,” says Aundrea Walker, Just Food’s executive director. While food pantries traditionally provide access to whole, raw foods, many families and individuals struggle to find time to cook during the hustle and bustle of daily life.
Staff at Just Food had tossed around the concept of an in-house kitchen before the pandemic. Then, in 2022, they conducted a “shopper survey” to find out their shoppers’ greatest needs. An overwhelming number of responses wanted access to ready-to-eat meals like pasta dishes, sandwiches and main-course items.
“The Chop Shop is a program where we take items that otherwise may not be able to be used, like a six-pound bag of rice, vegetables or produce that are near their end of life, to make ready-to-eat meals for shoppers,” Walker says.
During its first six months, Just Food saved 15,500 pounds of food that was destined for the trash heap and turned it into meals. With the Chop Shop program, large or unorthodox donations can now be broken down at a certified kitchen and packaged into smaller portions for individuals and families.
Before the creation of the Chop Shop, Just Food was able to provide a limited amount of ready-to-eat meals by renting out local spaces. “It became rapidly apparent that, due to the restrictions of renting commissary space, we could exponentially increase our production by having our own kitchen rather than being subject to availability and the constrictions on storage,” says Chetan Michie, who helped develop the program.
The time and labor involved with moving equipment in and out of rented spaces, not having overnight storage and other logistical problems proved costly and greatly limited Just Food’s ability to produce large quantities of meals.
This year, the organization finally found a space to call their own—complete with a commercial kitchen, a pseudo grocery store area for clients and even a few tables and chairs where people can sit and eat a Chop Shop pre-made meal if they choose.
Just Food took in just under $800,000 in donations from grocery store food recoveries, community food drives, general donations and farm gleaning. But the demand is still great, especially for perishable necessities like chicken, milk and eggs, which are infrequently donated. Chop Shop spent about $40,000 a month on groceries to service all their clients. “While our food recovery efforts have remained steady, our demand and number of clients has increased significantly,” says Michie, who says they serve 400-plus households a day now. A few years ago, they were serving half that number.
As an organization, they make sure shoppers are offered a variety of choices, Walker says. Unfortunately, the least expensive foods are often the least healthy, which is why Just Food tries to make sure their clients have a healthy diet. According to the leading food bank network operator, Feeding America, people experiencing hunger are at higher risk of developing chronic conditions such as diabetes, obesity, heart disease and mental health disorders. “Serving food that has a higher nutritional value is important to us,” Walker says. “People have a right to good, nutritious food as well, and it’s not just for those of privilege.”
