Letter from the Executive Director

Greetings from the JPF! 2020 was a year of shocks to our system. The COVID-19 pandemic sometimes felt like we were living in an action film and the car we were in suddenly veered off the bridge into the water and we were sinking. Like movie characters, we experienced multiple emotional responses as we responded to the distressing situation. Often, our confidence that we would swim free faded with each new realization – the seatbelt is stuck, the doors are locked, I can only hold my breath for so long.

For many, 2021 was an ongoing test of how long we can hold our breath. We faced questions of how can I make do with less, how can I keep myself and my family safe, how do we continue to exist in this new, underwater environment? This has been a year of adaptation. We have been forced to learn how to breathe differently, to reach deeper inside ourselves to find strength, to move slowly and methodically toward smaller goals. We have come to realize that, perhaps, in this new reality, each of us must be the hero that helps our family and our neighbors.

After another challenging year, the JPF continues to believe, maybe even more strongly, in the power of culinary education to improve lives. Demand for professional culinary and hospitality skills is skyrocketing and many folks found a new or renewed interest in cooking at home, partly by choice and partly out of necessity. The JPF helped satisfy these needs with continued support for our community kitchen partners, free award-winning video recipes on social media (Instagram, Facebook), and our Video Recipe Book for JPF Members. In addition, we added a Jacques Pépin Techniques on-line culinary course with our partner Rouxbe.com, allowing aspiring cooks to advance their craft and even earn a JPF/Rouxbe completion certificate and college credit.

All these programs and activities required new and expanded investment from the JPF in video production and curriculum development. In yet another year during which fundraising from in-person events was not available, our JPF team worked together to generate revenue with a complex mix of virtual events, promotions featuring posters of Jacques’ artwork or Jacques Torres’ chocolate bon-bons, individual donations, corporate sponsorships, and most importantly the JPF Membership. We are so very proud and grateful that so many of you have made it a priority to belong to our membership family, directly helping the Foundation's work to support community kitchen culinary programs.

We continue to hope and aspire and work toward brighter days. We know that many things are not within our control, but we also know that with an open mind and nimble posture we can find new ways to serve. And with commitment and perseverance we can provide strength in our industry and confidence in the kitchen.

The ability to cook continues to provide job opportunities, self-confidence, purpose, and economic and health benefits. This knowledge is our inspiration and driving force. With your help, the Foundation will continue to advance Jacques’ lifelong commitment to education, innovation, and support. On behalf of our Board and our staff, I wish you and everyone in your circle a warm, bright, and productive 2022!

Rollie Wesen, Executive Director

2021 Annual Report Featured Partner

Food Shift

Food Shift was a recipient of the JPF 2020 and 2021 grants program. Founded in 2012 as a project of the Earth Island Institute in Berkeley, CA, Food Shift develops solutions to reduce food waste, nourish the surrounding community, and provide training and jobs to individuals overcoming employment discrimination.

The organization presents intersecting issues of waste, food insecurity, job and financial security, wellness, and climate change to the broader community. In partnership with StopFoodWaste, the Food Shift team recently created a Seasonal Kitchen Guide: Tips, Tricks & Techniques for Reducing Food Waste at Home, to fill the gap Food Shift’s Executive Director Yuka Nagashima saw:

“It’s not enough to provide food to people, so we are shifting from “feed” to “nourish”. The guide creates an opportunity for people to have agency in their own kitchens to do their part in climate action, nourish their bodies, and care for themselves and the people they love (regardless of economic status).”

The Food Shift culinary training program strives to prepare graduates for real-world opportunities in food-oriented and food adjacent fields. To reflect the diversity and inclusion the organization expects to see in their own team, they have established a new advisory board with a more diverse membership and without any financial contribution requirements, with the hope that graduates can ascend to leadership positions within the organization.

In 2020-2021, Food Shift adapted their curriculum to include a food recovery module in anticipation of statewide legislation that will address climate change by reducing methane production created by food waste at all levels. Food Shift believes that this legislation will create a new sector of food recovery employment. They have added training for their apprentices that concentrates on building expertise and knowledge around food recovery techniques, logistics planning and network building. As businesses and organizations become subject to potential fines and penalties for wasting food, demand for recovery expertise will grow quickly and will make graduates of Food Shift’s program more desirable to employers.

Food Shift’s curriculum was enhanced during the pandemic to address inefficiencies in food supply systems and increased shortages at grocery stores. Apprentices now learn how to effectively use all the produce that is in season, with a de-emphasis on teaching restrictive recipes and specific ingredients towards a more flexible technique that emphasizes substitution and reduction in waste. Their holistic approach integrates culinary techniques with wellness and nutrition, encouraging healthy eating habits and meal prep to set their graduates up for success in life beyond this program to care for themselves and their families.

The JPF is proud to partner with Food Shift’s innovative, forward-thinking, and astute program.

Gloria Pépin Memorial Grant

Shannon Jefferson, an alumna of the Culinary Arts Institute at Open Door Community House in Columbus, GA, was the first recipient of the Gloria Pépin Memorial Grant, an annual $5,000 award to an outstanding female graduate of a JPF-funded organization.

The JPF grants committee, led by Jacques, was impressed with Shannon's calm focus and determination in her personal video statement and her commitment to bettering herself and those around her.

Here’s what members of the Open Door Team had to say about Shannon in the application:

“Shannon is dedicated, resilient, and passionate. She fights for people she loves, she works hard, and she's overcome obstacles that should have deterred her from pursuing her dreams.”

Shannon always loved cooking; that love was passed down to her by generations of cooks in her family. In 2010, Shannon was attending culinary school in Charleston, South Carolina, but had to put that dream on hold after the death of a close family member.

She enrolled in Open Door's Culinary Institute and after her graduation in 2015, Shannon got a supervisor position in the food and beverage industry. The Gloria Pépin Memorial Grant Award will go towards helping Shannon start her own soul food business in her home community.

The Foundation applauds Shannon Jefferson for her personal growth and congratulates Open Door Community House for their fantastic work supporting individuals like Shannon.

Open Door Community House, Inc. in Columbus, GA opened in 1935 to provide access to resources, education, and skills for those living in poverty or experiencing homelessness.

Their Culinary Arts Institute began in 2008 as a direct response to two issues in the community: the lack of living wage employment opportunities for persons without a college education and the projection by Columbus Technical College that the "up and coming" industry in the area would be in the food and hospitality sector.



Participants of the Open Door Culinary Institute weren't qualified for financial aid to attend Columbus Tech due to student loan defaults in the past, so the free culinary training at Open Door was a chance for more residents to prepare for culinary job opportunities.



In September 2020, the Open Door Culinary Incubator began operations as a pilot to help graduates open up their own business and a new partnership with The Food Mill to ensure students have a commercial kitchen to develop their products.

In 2020, funding from the JPF helped Open Door Community House enhance their program and create greater community awareness of how programs like this make a life-long difference in people's lives.

Revenue Generation

As our nation, community, and family of chefs, educators and food service professionals continued to slog through the pandemic, 2021 was a challenging year for the Jacques Pépin Foundation. With no in-person events to lean on for fund-raising, the JPF added and nurtured several new fundraising tools, to facilitate continuing our existing programs and broaden our scope and approach to culinary education.

Like many other organizations, in 2021, we produced several virtual events. “An Evening with Jacques & Claudine Pépin,” “Cook at Home with Jacques & Claudine Pépin,” and “Encore: Cook with Jacques & Claudine Pépin” were quite successful financially and well-received by attendees.

In 2021, we saw our JPF Membership program, launched in November of 2020, continue to grow and begin to generate consistent revenue. Members receive full access to our Webby Award nominated Video Recipe Book, now with more than 150 videos from the most renowned chefs, along with other gifts and amenities at higher levels of membership.

We created an online culinary course with partner Rouxbe, “Jacques Pépin: A Legacy of Technique” which launched in October of 2021. We expect this collaboration to continue to bear fruit and we plan to add more JPF-produced courses to the platform in 2022 and beyond.

We increased our merchandise offerings in 2021. Once again, we offered posters of Jacques' artwork, enhanced by design for the JPF on our Shopify e-commerce site.

In the fall of 2021, we offered a package of bourbon-infused chocolates, created by Jacques Torres Chocolates, combined with JPF membership, which became a popular holiday gift. We have a new poster design in the works, celebrating our 5th Anniversary in 2022, as well as another holiday gift and membership package.

As always, gifts from individuals, businesses and like-minded non-profits were the most critical component of our fund-raising efforts. Thank You!

Programs and Expenses

In 2021, we continued our granting program in support of culinary education through community based culinary training programs or community kitchens across the country. We granted 16 organizations nationwide through the granting program, provided auxiliary funding for 2 additional programs, and provided goods generated by partnerships from OXO brands and Cuisinart.

This year, we expanded our vision for improving lives through culinary education by increasing our video production output. We continued to produce the IACP award winning, Jacques Pépin Cooking at Home series, published on our Instagram page, and Jacques' Facebook page. We also developed videos for the Rouxbe online culinary course and the JPF members' Video Recipe Book. We are working through Jacques' Today's Gourmet series, courtesy of KQED, isolating individual recipes from the 30 minute shows.

In 2021, we increased our direct investment in curricular development for our online course and other offerings. Our collaborative relationship with online culinary educator Rouxbe.com affords a platform for Jacques Pépin to continue to teach and allows us to provide excellent, discounted online culinary training to our community kitchen partners.