Meet Jimmy Singleton, a Healthy Corners Store Owner

Jimmy Singleton is the owner of Marbury Market, a partner store in our Healthy Corners program, which is delivering fresh fruits and veggies to corner stores in wards 4, 5, 7, and 8. Those wards contain food deserts, large urban areas that are too far from fully-stocked supermarkets with fresh produce.

With Healthy Corners, DC Central Kitchen is partnering with small business owners like Jimmy to change the way his whole community eats.

We recently stopped by to ask what made him want to get involved in Healthy Corners. Here is his story:

Jimmy: “When I first opened this store and stocked healthy foods, they never sold. I was always taking them home to eat so I wouldn’t have to just throw it all away. So I started asking my customers what they wanted in the store.

All of their suggestions were for junk food – sticky buns, soda, cookies, etc. I couldn’t figure out what was so great about this junk food so I decided to try eating like my customers. I gained nearly 100 lbs over the course of one year. I wore size 48 pants and I couldn’t fit into regular shoes.

Then I started cooking at home again and I lost nearly all the weight I had gained. When the Healthy Corners program came, I started eating fresh produce from the store.

Now when people come into the store and see how much weight I lost, they ask me how I did it. I tell them I changed my diet and started eating healthy. Now they ask me to stock more healthy foods.

Healthy Corners made it possible for me to do that because the prices were cheaper than Sam’s Club and other wholesale stores.”

Culinary Job Training Class 88’s Cook Off: Egg Foo Young

Yesterday, Culinary Job Training Class 88 cooked off to produce their best rendition of Egg Foo Young. They were joined by 7 judges: Ken Crerar (Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers), Rhonda Small, Tony Lipari, and Kim Tate from the United Way, Kate Jansen from Willow Restaurant (and her mother Jane), and Reuven Sugarman from Cuba Libre.

New Culinary Instructor Afiya Howell explained how the class prepared all week by making test versions of the dish and learning to work in teams. Marianne Ali, Director of Culinary Job Training, expressed how learning to work with others is an important component of the program.

Zachary Mason, Class 88 Student, said of his experiences thus far: “The past 6 weeks for me have been beautiful. I learn something new every day. I like the hustle bustle, the rush of kicking it out.”

Congrats to Clyde, Millena, Kaprina, Loretta, and Haywood from Team Dim Sum and Dim Sum More, who took first place. Thanks to all of the judges who asked very enlightening questions to our students.

Chef Ed Hosts Cooking Class for Teachers at Kelly Miller Middle School

Last week teachers at Kelly Miller Middle School were invited to participate in an after school cooking class hosted by DCCK’s Executive Chef for School Food, Ed Kwitowski and Production Chef at Alice Deal Middle School, Christina Brown.

The nine teachers who participated were given recipes and instruction on preparing corn-crusted catfish, collard greens, buffalo chicken tenders and cheesy meatballs from scratch.

Chef Ed encouraged the teachers to use the recipes provided as a guide, leaving room to make the final dish their own. The hands on portion of the class involved teachers breading their own catfish and rolling out their meatballs.

The cooking class provided a perfect opportunity for Chef Ed to tell teachers a little bit more about DC Central Kitchen and emphasize that students look to their teachers as role models for healthy choices in the cafeteria.

We love to see the teachers getting involved and are especially grateful to all of those who we see modeling healthy eating habits and engaging the students in conversations about their food every day in the schools!

DC Central Kitchen’s 2011 Annual Report: Redefining Nutrition

Every year marks incredible growth and change for DC Central Kitchen. In 2011, DC Central Kitchen took its biggest leap forward by opening a second production facility, the Nutrition Lab, to showcase the power of what others have cast aside – food, people, and kitchens – to create, empower, and liberate.

We are incredibly proud to announce the release of the 2011 Annual Report. This year’s theme is how we’re redefining nutrition by combating food deserts, serving healthy school meals, supporting local farms, and creating jobs.

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Heritage Day chefs inspire Class 88 with career advice

This Wednesday was Heritage Day for Class 88. Students learned how to make cultural dishes from experienced local chefs, who also shared career and life advice.

This Heritage Day featured three chefs: Reuven Sugarman of Cuba Libre, Kate Jansen of Willow Restaurant, and Anthony Lombardo of 1789. The three chefs stressed the importance of perseverance and working hard as the students begin their careers.

“It’s not like you just graduate from this program, get a job, and you’re set for life. You’ve always got to push forward and work hard to stay ahead,” said Chef Lombardo.

Students helped the chefs prepare three fantastic dishes: Beef Picadillo, Spring Asparagus Bisque, and Lombardo Meatballs.

A special thanks to the chefs who made this a memorable Heritage Day.