BY JESSICA PARKS
A Brownsville communitybased
catering company is
mass-producing meals for hungry
Brooklynites — churning
out hundreds of hearty meals a
day amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“During this time we want
to make sure people keep their
immune systems up,” said
LaToya Meaders, co-founder
and director of operations at
Collective Fare. “Everyone is
going to get a delicious meal no
matter where you live, no matter
where you are if it is coming
out of our kitchen.
Collective Fare converted
the kitchen at the Brownsville
Community Culinary Center
— which houses the catering
company on its site — into
a meal-production machine.
Meals are prepared by hospitality
workers who were previously
trained at the community
center’s free culinary school
under chef educator Rodney
Frazer, who co-founded Collective
Fare with Meaders.
“There are times when
professionals need to band together
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COURIER L 10 IFE, APRIL 24-30, 2020
and put together their
skills to make sure the food is
handled properly and that everybody
is serving in a healthy
way,” Meaders said.
A number of city organizations
have donated food, which
Meaders said is either directed
for delivery as a pantry item
or to be prepared into savory
dishes like peri-peri chicken
salad and jerk chicken with rice
and peas.
“Collective Fare takes certain
items that need to be prepared
fresh,” she said. “We prepare
really awesome meals out
of that food.”
The catering company has
been distributing meals to
nursing homes and shelters
throughout Brownsville and
eastern parts of Brooklyn and
has extended its reach further
into the borough with the help
of partners, like neighborhood
makerspace Universe City.
“I get phone calls from Bay
Ridge, Coney Island and Sheepshead
Bay asking for help,”
Meaders said. “And if I put
them in contact with any of our
partners, I am able to get them
food.”
The food campaign has
also extended its services to
frontline workers, who may
not have the time to shop for
food as occupancy limits have
created hours-long waits at
most grocery stores. Many of
these essential workers call
Brownsville home, according
to BCCC’s co-founder and content
director.
“People who are being exposed
to the virus on a daily
basis have to come back to
Brownsville and don’t have
time to cook,” Lucas Denton
said. “It was already rough to
eat healthy in Brownsville.”
A recent report by Food
Bank For New York City found
that Brooklyn had the highest
rate of food insecurity in the
city, with Brownsville among
the top ten neighborhoods lacking
access to fresh, affordable
food. Denton further noted that
Hospitality workers preparing meals for distribution. LaToya Meaders
residents of the organization’s
namesake neighborhood are
particularly susceptible to impact
from the novel coronavirus
due to pre-existing conditions
that go hand-in-hand with
that lack of access.
“Brownsville has already
been suffering from a public
health epidemic resulting from
diet-related illness which itself
is caused in a large part — if
not entirely in most cases — by
systemic inequality and access
to fresh and healthy foods,” he
said.
However, the current crisis
may shed some light on best
practices, Denton said, noting
that the opportunity to feed
masses of people during the
pandemic could provide insight
into how to better distribute
healthy food to their community
once the crisis settles
down.
Brownsville caterer makes
meals for hungry Brooklynites
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