How Rethink Food Is Helping South Florida Families Facing Food Insecurity at Higher Rates Than Other States

Rethink Food started in New York City in 2017, but it maintains a presence in Miami, where the nonprofit partners with small local restaurants and food businesses to provide nutritious, culturally-sensitive meals to those in need. 

In Miami, Rethink Food’s mission is more pertinent than ever as more than 1.2 million people, almost a tenth of the population, and 13% of children, aren’t getting enough food in Palm Beach, Broward, Miami-Dade, and Monroe counties, according to a report shared by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Why Floridians Are Facing Higher Food Costs

While shoppers across the country are feeling a squeeze on their wallets when ponying up for groceries, those in South Florida are in an even more challenging situation. Mid-year, South Florida experienced one of the highest inflation rates in the United States. In the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Palm Beach region, WalletHub discovered that in August in sunny South Florida, the consumer price index, a metric that gauges the variation in prices paid by consumers for goods and services, exhibited a 7.8% rise compared to the same period the previous year.

It’s a startling figure significantly higher than the nationwide year-over-year consumer price index, which hit 3.7% in August. It also put Miami, Fort Lauderdale, and West Palm Beach at the top of WalletHub’s list of cities hardest hit by inflation.

As of November 2023, the average cost of a dozen Grade A large eggs in the United States is approximately $2.14, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. This price represents a decrease from the peak price of $4.82 in January 2023. In South Florida, at a Publix in Deerfield Beach, this writer spent $5.75 on a dozen brown eggs on Dec. 14, 2023. 

The sky-high cost of Florida housing isn’t helping matters either.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports housing prices in the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach region have seen a 12.5% surge since August 2022.

The Difference Rethink Food Is Making in Miami

Rethink Food is doing its part to turn the tide for Florida. Since 2021, Rethink Food, in collaboration with The Genuine Hospitality Group in Miami, has successfully delivered over 190,000 meals to individuals in need, marking a significant milestone in the fight to feed vulnerable Florida residents. 

The progressive nonprofit constantly develops new and innovative ways to fund meals by initiating partnerships with favorite local eateries like Amara at Paraiso and Michaels’ Genuine in which a 2% donation is added to every check. Simply by eating meals there, diners funded six Haitian restaurants to make fresh meals for seven community-based organizations. 

The River Oyster Bar was another Rethink Food Miami partnership. In July, Rethink Food shared on its Instagram, “With the dedication of the @riveroysterbar team and the generosity of their patrons, The River Oyster Bar has funded 2,300 meals for communities in Miami impacted by food insecurity — in their first two months a fundraising partner.”

Gepsie M. Metellus, the executive director of Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center, says Rethink Food’s support is helping.

“It’s been a phenomenal partnership, and the invitation came just in time,” Metellus told Miami New Times. “We have been seeing an uptick in people asking if we would have food distribution again because we did in the past, and it ended. So when this opportunity came up, we were tickled pink, and so were our clients.”

Metellus added that the two restaurants in the Little Haiti neighborhood working with Rethink Food were able to hire more workers thanks to the boost in revenue they gained via the partnership.

“It’s wonderful that they’re keeping the dollars going around in the community and that the food they make is culturally familiar to our clients, who are both of Haitian and Latinx descent,” said Metellus.

“There is a great need, and families are dependent on the food. Some of our neighbors can’t believe it. They think in this great country of ours, there is zero hunger. But that’s not what we’re seeing. It’s kept a lot of children and families from being hungry.”

Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava applauded Rethink Food for its work to help in her city.

“The work that Rethink Food and all the participating restaurants are doing for residents is truly inspirational, coming together to support families when they need it the most while also honoring and respecting their cultures,” Cava shared in a statement. “It demonstrates what partnerships like this can accomplish and the impact it has on people’s lives. I am so proud and moved by what they do for our community every day, and I hope to see more collaborations like this in the future.”

Rethink Food’s Bigger Picture Plan

Ken Baker, Rethink Food’s culinary director, recently spoke with The Weather Channel to discuss the group’s main motivation.

“We exist to bridge that gap between all that excess that exists in the food ecosystem and the hospitality and culinary industry and individuals [in need]. What we do is go around and capture as much of that excess as possible and bring it back to the commissary [kitchen] I lead, and we turn it into nutrient-dense restaurant-quality meals,” Baker told The Weather Channel.

“Alternatively, another way in which we deploy our mission to really amplify the impact of what we do is we raise funds as well and give them to restaurants and empower them to be micro-commissaries and utilize their downtime.”

Baker said the expiration of COVID-19-era subsidies, resources, and funding, coupled with the high inflationary cost of goods, is creating even more challenges for average Americans. “The vast majority of working-class people are just struggling to make ends meet.”

So, where does the majority of surplus food come from? Baker explained that supermarkets tend to be top donors.

“We have the great benefit of being able to collect from all your favorite grocery stores,” Baker added.

Baker said as Rethink Food continues to forge ahead, the organization would like to remind people to educate themselves on the reality of food donation.

“A lot of people think that you can’t donate food or it’s illegal to take food from somewhere else, recreate it into a meal, and distribute it to people in need. It’s really just misinformation,” Baker concluded. “It’s about thinking of ways we can be more sustainable. But the biggest thing in what’s happening with all of this is [reducing] food waste. In being more sustainable and being more conscious about your buying practices and habits, you’re able to curb this climate change crisis that we all are battling.”