Through our network partners, Catalyst Kitchens and Feeding America, we have identified over 100 community kitchens across the country dedicated to improving lives and strengthening communities through culinary training. These programs offer individuals free culinary and life skills training that leads to increased confidence, better health and more employment opportunities. Our goal is to discover every organization that does this work and to create a community that shares best practices and effective curricula.
Our Support for Community Kitchens
The Jacques Pépin Foundation supports culinary arts education and training. Our mission is in part realized by supporting non-profit, community-based, culinary arts training programs that offer life skills and culinary training to adults with high barriers to employment.
We are pleased to launch the RFP for 2021. Proposals are for existing CBCATs who are raising capital to formalize their culinary training program, join a community kitchen network, improve facilities, expand their programming, or in other ways directly improve their teaching. An interactive map listing of organizations that have previously received our support can be found at the top of this page. We offer two submission deadlines in 2021: May 1st and October 1st. Download application here.
In honor of Jacques' late wife, the JPF launches the“Gloria Pépin Memorial Grant”. The grant is a$5,000 unrestricted award, to a top female graduate of a JPF grant-awarded community kitchen program. All JPF grant awardees from previous years will be invited to nominate 1 graduate per year for this award, to be distributed in June. Please note that all applicants must submit application as well as video appearance release form for 2021 Gloria Pépin Memorial Grant.
Our goal is to raise visibility and support for community kitchens across the country. In 2019, we will initiate a program offering $10K grants to at least 10 different community kitchens. In addition, our efforts include
The JPF shares content from Jacques’ rich legacy of cookbooks and videos with community kitchens to be used as training materials or part of a lending library.
In 2018, the Foundation proudly distributed books and videos to over 20 community-based culinary arts training programs. Highlighting Jacques’ firm belief that learning culinary technique is an essential ingredient for success, the multimedia care packages included two technique-driven cookbooks, an accompanying educational DVD, Pépin’s autobiography and a copy of “The Art of the Craft”, an American Masters documentary film about Pépin.
In 2019, the JPF will continue this distribution and in addition will work to create a consolidated library of Jacques’ videos and a catalog of demonstrated techniques to be utilized in community kitchen curricula across the country.
OXO provided 20 community-based culinary arts training programs each with $500 worth of their universal design tools, including peelers, gloves, can openers, whisks, mixing bowl sets and knives. OXO has anniversaried this commitment for an additional 10K in 2019. Thank you to OXO for being one of our valued industry partners!
Jacques and other JPF team members volunteer their time in community kitchens providing professional training to students. We also connect professional chefs who want to volunteer to community kitchens in their area.
For our 2021 Recovery Campaign, we have created two new poster prints of Jacques’ artwork, offered in a larger size: 2021 Recovery, and 2021 Kitchen Strong. Jacques has always been an inspiration in the kitchen, and these artworks offer peace and serenity, as well as a rallying cry to keep going toward the light at the end of the tunnel.
The JPF is proud to announce the release of Volume 2 of our Video Recipe Book, Cook with Jacques Pépin & Friends. As a JPF Member, you receive access to 50 new recipes from chefs across the country including Marcus Samuelsson, Ingrid Hoffmann, Michael Voltaggio, Rick Bayless, Antonia Lofaso, Michael Symon, Carla Hall, Diego Galicia, Traci Des Jardins, and, of course, Jacques Pépin.
Aligned with our mission of improving lives and strengthening communities through culinary education and training, every annual JPF Membership level will directly support community-based culinary training that provides essential culinary and life skills for individuals with barriers to employment.
The Jacques Pépin Foundation's annual fundraiser will be a live, virtual Zoom event this year. Please join Jacques, Claudine, and family at home for a demonstration of cooking techniques and familiar joie de vivre on Friday, May 14 at 6:30 pm EST.
Tickets available here