In Austin, Marvin Sykes, 57, takes a meal from his fridge and microwaves it. Sometimes it's fish, and other times it's chicken with freshly made sides. These meals are prepared about a dozen miles south at the Chicago's Community Kitchens in Archer Heights. Here, chefs, dietitians, and cooks at the Greater Chicago Food Depository's prepared meals center make over 3,000 meals a day.

How the Nonprofit Helps

The nonprofit food bank provides produce and food items to area food pantries. It opened a much-anticipated meal prep center in the spring, offering free, ready-to-eat meals. This helps more Chicagoans and Cook County residents in need. Chief Operating Officer Jill Rahman said the meal program assists people with disabilities, seniors, those with limited transportation and income, and those in food deserts. It also helps working families who lack time or resources to make meals from scratch daily. Rahman explained that this approach helps those facing food insecurity who can't rely solely on pantries as they may lack time, a kitchen, or accommodations.For Sykes, who used to rely on canned soup or neighbors for food, the ready-to-eat meals are simple. They also help him manage his diabetes. The meals are cooked from scratch in an industrial kitchen using about 100 nutritious recipes vetted by a registered dietitian and with few heavily processed ingredients. The recipes focus on the needs of seniors, those with medically tailored diets, and those with disabilities. "We have developed those recipes to be balanced for caloric content, hypertension, and diabetes," Rahman said.Once packaged, the Greater Chicago Food Depository delivers the meals daily to 40 food pantries, soup kitchens, and community organizations. The fresh and frozen meals are distributed to residents in 12 neighborhoods, mainly on the South and West Sides and in suburban Cook County. Older adults get a hot, single-serve meal and some frozen meals to eat on their own schedule.In February, the Greater Chicago Food Depository partnered with the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities to test meal delivery to residents on the South and West Sides. The program has been promising, and staff continue to learn to meet the needs of meal recipients. It has inspired innovation, like growing fresh herbs like parsley and cilantro in-house using hydroponics, a successful pilot project that could be expanded.The prepared meals center also creates job opportunities, reduces food waste, and controls costs. In another pilot program, the food bank partners with organizations to provide meals for workforce development program participants. Rahman said these approaches are a "comprehensive response" that can "keep people out of poverty and out of the food pantry."The Greater Chicago Food Depository can make 10,000 meals a day. If demand increases, it has the capacity to add a shift to make more. A 2019 report estimates there could be 100,000 more low-income seniors in Cook County by 2030 as the population ages. The report found that those with difficulty preparing meals are more vulnerable to food insecurity, have poorer health, and feel more lonely. Demand at food pantries has increased since the COVID-19 pandemic and remains high. Rahman said they didn't anticipate how bad inflation would be, which has added to the situation.