Food and Jobs Coming Soon to Schools and Families in West Philly

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Philadelphia’s Westside is home to many families who struggle to make ends meet, and also to put healthy, nutritious food on the table. An initiative led by People’s Emergency Center (PEC), Fresh Start Foods and Drexel University hopes to bring a little hunger and economic relief to these neighborhoods.

The initiative, called Fresh Start Foods West Philadelphia, will provide fresh and healthy prepared meals for local schools while offering out-of-work young adults culinary apprenticeship jobs that provide living wages with benefits. Additionally, a retail store offering healthy meals to the community will be developed. The store is scheduled to open in fall 2015.

Fresh Start Foods West Philadelphia has been boosted by more than $700,000 in federal and state grants, including support from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Healthy Food Financing Initiative as well as the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development.

Through providing meals at both local schools and at the retail store, Fresh Start Foods West Philadelphia will strive to ensure that this underserved area is well-fed and hard at work.

Read more about Fresh Start Foods West Philadelphia in this local news article.The trainings will begin in March 2015.