The Food Mill – Food Farmacy

Brings More to Community with New Shared Kitchen

By Natalie Downey

Small businesses bring a sense of ownership and belonging to a community. Purchasing from a neighbor’s business feels more personal than buying from a large corporation, and in supporting our local small business owners, we in turn support the community as a whole. But starting a small business comes with many challenges, and The Food Mill’s latest program seeks to help entrepreneurs through those challenges and walk alongside them in the early stages to help ensure their future success.

The Food Mill’s community-focused programs center around their foundational belief that “Food is Medicine.” Continuing the work they’ve begun, the nonprofit plans to introduce a new program this fall called the Shared Kitchen.

A shared kitchen is a space where small business owners who need kitchen space can work with the security of having a production area that meets all of the state’s codes and requirements. Currently, nothing of the sort exists in our area, though other cities have successful models. “We have local people driving long distances to access a shared kitchen,” Olivia explains. “There is no state-certified space here.” Anna Sims, Director of Communications at The Food Mill, says this could help entrepreneurs dreaming to start something of their own. “The fact that we’re bringing something like this to Columbus is huge, because we need it,” she adds.

Recognizing a need for a shared kitchen in the area, Food Mill director Olivia Amos began having conversations with city officials three years ago. She visited other shared kitchens to get more context and explore her idea further. Her initial request was for the use of the Fox Senior Center for community focused programs. “I realized there was a lot of space there that wasn’t being utilized,” she says.

The idea expanded and evolved, and this year, construction on a shared kitchen in the Fox Senior Center began.

The concept for the space was developed to give small food-based businesses a place to incubate and to support them as they move on to the next level. With this in mind, The Food Mill is partnering with the Open Door Community House Culinary Incubator Program to offer 90-day scholarships for use of the shared kitchen after their completion of the program. After their scholarship period, they’ll begin paying rent on a sliding scale if they wish to continue using the shared kitchen. Open Door will hold its Culinary Incubator classes in the Shared Kitchen’s teaching classroom. Open Door has partnered with StartUp Columbus and their CoStarters Program to teach the aspects of running a small food-based business. The collaboration between The Food Mill and Open Door’s Incubator Program provides the resources needed for aspiring entrepreneurs to have a solid foundation to launch their businesses.

In addition to being accessible to small business owners, the shared kitchen will also be a space for the Food Mill’s existing Cooking Matters program. The program is designed to educate the community about making healthy food choices, and includes information on grocery shopping, cooking, reading nutrition labels, and other important skills. Cooking Matters also offers practical, hands-on cooking classes for participants to learn how to prepare the fresh produce The Food Mill distributes.

The shared kitchen can be used by up to six participants at a time, with two kitchens specific to baking. A prep station, mixing station, ovens, cold storage, dry storage, and more will be available, with a rotation schedule for users. Instead of having to transport all materials back and forth, participants will have the option of renting space at the kitchen to store their goods. The shared kitchen will give people the opportunity to launch their small business while giving them needed resources for success.

The Food Mill’s focus has always been on lifting people out of poverty through food. Their culinary training takes place year round through the Jordan High School’s Career Technical Instruction Program, and they partner with Truth

Springs Trade School students to provide job experience and training for the skills needed to succeed in the culinary world. “It’s a landing place for people,” Olivia explains. “We have so many amazing, independent small restaurants, and there’s a need here for that talent.”

With a focus on community support, The Food Mill offers employees of their restaurant benefits which many food workers unfortunately don’t typically receive, such as dental and vision insurance. When you dine at The Food Mill, you support their work in the community, and when you leave a tip, it goes towards the benefits program for employees.

The Food Mill recently expanded their restaurant to include a market where local business owners can sell their products. Participants of the shared kitchen will have the opportunity to sell their products here. From production to sales, The Food Mill plans to support small business owners throughout the process of starting up a new project.

The Food Mill’s work is funded by grants, donations, and the support of the local community. The Columbus Consolidated Government Community Reinvestment’s Community Development Block Grant supported much of the construction; The Reinvestment Fund’s Healthy Food Financing Initiative funded the development of the program; and a USDA Local Food Promotion Grant also funded a portion of the kitchen equipment.

Other grants that helped make the shared kitchen possible include Governor Kemp’s Redeveloping Blight Neighborhoods Grant and Georgia Power Foundation grant, support from Knight Foundation Fund at The Community Foundation of the Chattahoochee Valley, as well as donations from The Food Mill’s many supporters.

More details are coming soon how to use the space.. Other upcoming events include the Jingle Bell Jog, a 5k fundraiser, which will take place on December 14 at the Highside Market.

The Food Mill offers regular lunch and learn meetings, with free lunch for people interested in learning more about their work in the community. RSVP is requested. The next upcoming Lunch and Learn dates are October 16, November 13, and December 3 at 11:30 a.m. at The Food Mill Café. Visit thefoodmill.org for more information.