Community FoodBank of New Jersey: Community Kitchen

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Food Service Training Academy Makes Front-Page News

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our programs

The Community Kitchen encompasses several different programs:

All meal programs are prepared in our Community Kitchen by our dedicated staff and our students from the Food Service Training Academy (FSTA).

family meals

The family meals program is designed for working families. The Community Kitchen designed an entire dinner for four in a convenient heat and serve package. The dinners contain one (1) of four (4) different entrees and seasonal vegetables and starch. The meal is pre-cooked and frozen all you have to do is heat and serve. The price is very affordable and nutritious. The idea is encourage families to eat a well-balanced meal during their hectic schedules. Today, people just have time to stop at a fast food restaurant. Those meals have no nutritional value and cost four times as much as our family meals.

cfbnj staff feeding

The Community Kitchen, in addition to its many other feeding programs, feeds the staff of the FoodBank daily. This feeding program utilizes FSTA students and helps train them in cafeteria and a la carte style service. The Students are required as part of their training to become Sous chef for the day. They write the menu prepare the menu with a staff of students and execute the entire meal. It gives them the opportunity to oversee and control the whole operation. They are taught salad bar buffet, display cooking and other styles of buffet cooking including dessert preparation and displays.

kids cafe

The Community Kitchen prepares hot, nutritious meals regulated by the USDA’s nutritional guidelines for hundreds of low-income children throughout the surrounding communities for the Community FoodBank’s Kids Cafe Program. In some cases the children that are receiving these meals might only be receiving one hot nutritious meal a day and this is that meal.

prepared foods

Prepared Foods Program One of the original proposes for the creation of the Community Kitchen was to take food that has been donated from supermarkets and wholesalers that might not meet their level of retail standards - but surely good to eat. The food is donated to or purchased by the FoodBank, and the Community Kitchen’s responsibility is to create a prepared product from that item that can be frozen and stored and offered to our participating agencies sometime in the future. An example of some items are (marinara sauce from donated tomatoes, roast potatoes or mashed potatoes from donated potatoes, shepherd’s pie from ground beef, vegetable soup from donated vegetables).

food service training academy

The Food Service Training Academy (FSTA) is a culinary job-training program that provides low-income individuals with an opportunity to gain a job with potential to be paid a living wage and to live without reliance on charitable and government assistance programs. Throughout the training program, students are engaged in producing meals for different programs to support hunger relief efforts in the community.

Objectives:

Train men and women in culinary arts and food safety who currently earn low incomes and/or who need a second chance.
Prepare them for jobs in the food service industry through life skills, job readiness training and job placement assistance

As part of its mission to fight poverty, the FoodBank’s Community Kitchen opens the FSTA to low-income persons who would like a new start, including residents of halfway houses, social services clients, and former offenders on parole. It has has graduated over 200 men and women, preparing them for better than entry-level jobs and the potential for a solid career.

FSTA is a fourteen week, curriculum based, culinary arts, baking, and food service academic program for qualified applicants who desire a career in the food service field. In addition to receiving full hands on training in our state of the art kitchen, students are also certified in the Serv-Safe Food Sanitations Managers Course from the National Restaurant Association. Our chef instructors are certified from the top culinary schools in the country and actively supervise students while they prepare meals for Community FoodBank feeding programs as well as on-premise catering.

Under the direction of Executive Chef Paul Kapner, students learn cooking skills, menu planning, proper nutrition, and safe food handling. Additionally, students receive counseling in life skills to help them meet workplace expectations. “We teach our students to meet or exceed industry standards," said Chef Kapner, a graduate of Johnson & Wales University. Graduates leave the Training Academy with a ServSafe sanitation certificate, cooking skills and, often, a job, thanks to the growing reputation of the Food Service Training Academy and its track record with various eating establishments. Chef Paul demands that all students receive a well-rounded and thorough training of the kitchen stations because there is such a high demand for qualified personnel.

The most important ingredient in the Training Program’s recipe for a fresh start is pride. The Academy’s chefs have arranged for tours of facilities including Tavern on the Green Restaurant in Manhattan and the Waldorf Astoria - and to meet with several of the managers. The training program is recognized by the ACF (American Culinary Federation) and the BCA (Black Culinarian Alliance).

The Training Academy is supported generously by the Prudential Foundation, JPMorgan Chase Foundation, ACE Bakery and TD Bank Foundation.

See our Brochure for more information and check out our pictures page.

Interested in job training? Please contact Rosemarie Murray, Community Kitchen Administrator at the FoodBank, for further information 908-355-3663, ext. 240.

Employers interested in Qualified, ServSafe Certified, kitchen help should call (908) 355-3663 ext. 240. Internships also available.

catering

The Community FoodBank has an extensive catering menu offered to groups that volunteer or organizations that host day meetings here at the FoodBank. This program is design to give the students of the Food Service Training Academy the real life hands on experience in a catering environment. Please call for pricing. To get a printable copy of our menu Download the Catering Menu.

We only do catering here at the FoodBank (no off-premise catering at this time).

The Catering menu is in Adobe Acrobat (PDF) format. You will need to download and install the free Adobe Acrobat Reader to view the file. If you do not have the Acrobat Reader, download it now.

The Community Kitchen is a registered trademark of Feeding America.