Rochester Reporter

Mayor Malik D. Evans joined the staff at St. Peter’s Kitchen, Foodlink, and other community partners today to celebrate expanded access to healthy foods for low-income west-side neighborhoods.

St. Peter’s Kitchen is benefiting from City efforts to expand access to healthy foods using American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) dollars directed through an Innovative Healthy Food Models grant. The City will spend up to $5 million in partnership with innovative nonprofits, local businesses and farmers, food-based entrepreneurs, and the Rochester Public Market to better ensure access to healthy food for low-income residents.

“Healthy eating is the foundation of our physical and mental health,” said Mayor Evans. “Food insecurity is one of those grinding worries that saps energy that families need to focus on learning, growing and reaching for prosperity. This is one way we can help individuals and families reach their full potential.”

The $390,000 grant enables St. Peter’s Kitchen to open its food pantry on Saturdays so that people who work during the week have easier access. St. Peter’s is also expanding its hot lunch program to include Saturdays, with June 29 serving as the kickoff lunch.

Future plans include providing delivery of healthy foods for seniors and those with disabilities who cannot easily get to the pantry and offering cooking classes that focus on healthy eating. Other donors have also enabled St. Peter’s to open a room for community members to schedule and attend telemedicine visits.

“This marks the beginning of a new era for St. Peter's Kitchen which has been serving the neighborhood for 42 years,” said St. Peter’s Kitchen Chief Executive Officer Robert Boyd. “One of our immediate goals is to provide access to pantry services to working families who can't come during regular weekday hours. This portion of the community has limited opportunities to visit a food pantry. Food security is not only a matter of making sure children aren’t hungry; it’s about ensuring children are well-nourished and able to fully participate in learning, enrichment, and relationships. It’s about feeding our families with dignity.”

Thanks to the grant funds, St. Peter’s expects to increase the healthy food it provides each year to the community from 400,000 pounds to 500,000 pounds.