CSB Community Kitchen
Mission:
The CSB Community Kitchen will focus on the reduction of food waste at CSB, distribution of un-served, leftover food to families and individuals facing food insecurity in the St. Joseph area, and providing increased wrap-around services such as sustainability and nutrition education for both campus and the community.
The Idea Behind CSB Community Kitchen
Certain parties within CSB, including the Office for Experiential Learning and Community Engagement and the Office of Sustainability, have spent the past two years researching models of Campus Kitchen. Augsburg was one of the first college campuses in the nation to start a campus kitchen. Over the past two years, we have held several conversations, conducted a study tour of their operation and researched extensively on the web. Augsburg's Campus Kitchen uses a model that includes: food to share, food to grow, food to buy and food to know. This model encompasses a free food program, the community garden, the farmer's market, and food justice simulations. They have already voiced their willingness to mentor us in our process to build on existing relationships to provide meals to community members.
Sites the CSB Community Kitchen will potentially partner with include: the local Catholic Worker House being established in St. Joseph, Casa Guadalupe; La Cruz/Bel Clare Estates; churches, assisted living facilities, and food shelves located in St. Joseph, Cold Spring, Melrose, Holdingford, Albany, and Avon. These are all potential partners that could help the CSB Community Kitchen provide meals where need is high and other services are not already being offered.
The CSB Community Kitchen intends to serve people facing food insecurity where they are, instead of expecting people to come to us. In rural communities, churches are often the community gathering place and most churches have the infrastructure and kitchen space needed for meal reheating and preparation. Community organizations are also aware of the families experiencing high levels of need and could refer for a meals-on-wheels model, where meals are delivered to the homes in rural areas. There are a number of resources in St. Cloud available for people to access and receive a warm meal; however, in rural communities, access to healthy food and meals is more difficult to attain.