This Seattle all-volunteer organization connects food industry folks to help raise money for Black-led community causes

I have had many things delivered since the beginning of COVID-19; Things I could never have gotten before. Boxes of baked goods, frozen dumplings and frozen pizza. But one of my favorite things was a bag of fresh tomatillos, a glass of bourbon, salt and caramel sauce, pesto alla Trapanese, a bag of coffee and more.

Billed as a CSA-style bag, this selection of goodies comes from Cooks for Black Lives Matter, a project started in May 2020 by local chefs Jude Watson and Max Goldstein, a bag filled with braised greens from Oxbow Farm is; Bread from the cottage; Crackers from the London plane; Salsa by Jonathan Ragsdale, co-founder of the Pancita pop-up; and hot sauce from Cornelly chef Mark Galambos.

For Watson, the project arose as a way to ask their network to mobilize money for social change. “I think the most important thing about the project for me is that, as a white man, it is my responsibility to help redistribute wealth to communities of color. Although we don’t make a lot of money as line chefs compared to others, as a white man I have a lot of resources to fall back on, ”they said.

Unlike traditional Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) models, which usually include a box of ingredients from a single farm or even a farm collective, Cooks for BLM is unique in that it leverages the power of community (one that works with the network of Watson and Goldstein began) to bring different people together in the food sector – chefs, of course, but also farmers and food producers, bakers, coffee roasters and local restaurants – with the aim of supporting the organization run by blacks. It is run 100% on a voluntary basis. Almost all of the contents of the CSA bags are donated, and volunteers coordinate the work and deliver the bags. Only 15% of the monthly raised funds flow into operating costs.

The first bag was such a success, Watson and Goldstein kept it going and kept voting. They started with 50 bags and increased the price from $ 60 for eight items to $ 105 for 10 so they could top up the money they donated. They worked their networks more to attract contributors and volunteers, and after donating around $ 9,000 to BLM Seattle-King County, switched beneficiaries to King County Equity Now (KCEN).

The bags were still selling out every month, and in January 2021, Watson posted an ad on Cooks for BLM’s Instagram page announcing that they are expanding the project and forming a leadership body. Robyn Nielsen, Rebecca Jacobs, Adrienne Greenberg and Renee Soliman saw and answered the call and formed the first governing body with Watson and Goldstein in February.

In the meantime, the founding duo has passed control to the board of directors. Watson left Berkeley, California to attend graduate school shortly after the new board was convened, while Goldstein stayed through that summer and left for work. Carolina No, who acts as the culinary director, joined shortly before he left.

“Jude and Max trained us throughout the process, it was honestly overwhelming that they did it themselves.

Jacobs works as a volunteer and community leader and runs a loose collection of about 75 volunteers. Soliman is the sales and accounting manager while Greenberg is the master behind the spreadsheets, mapping the routes the group gives to volunteer drivers each month.

Some of the women work in the grocery sector – Nielsen is Marketing Director for Mioposto Pizzerias, No works at Petite Soif and Jacobs is Communications Director for Sur La Table – and they all share a passion for the mission.

“We’re not here because we love spreadsheets, although I do, we’re here because we want to support [KCEN’s] work, ”says Greenberg.

“Social justice needs to be paramount in our daily lives, and if you have a skill or passion that you can help make the world a better place for people, you should definitely do it,” added Nielsen.

The ad listed these volunteer jobs as 12 to 15 hour commitment per month, but Nielsen says it was more like 25 to 30 hours.

“We have a Slack channel and it’s daily communication. Most of the work comes in the beginning and end of the month, it’s really an ongoing project … it takes a lot of time, but it doesn’t feel like a job, ”says Nielsen.

It is an affair of the heart for all volunteers.

My CSA bag was hand-delivered by volunteers Kathryn Grubbs, her partner Morgan Stine, and their adorable pit bull Molly Moon – just one of 14 (a personal record for her) bags they delivered on a Sunday in August.

Grubbs has been involved since the beginning of the project, and their route is one of a handful that breaks up monthly, with volunteers driving around Seattle and Bellevue delivering the goods.

“My partner drives so that I can take over the navigation. It feels doable and manageable. We made it a family activity, ”says Grubbs.

In the time the Cooks for BLM board has worked together, they have increased the number of CSA bags from 50 to 70 per month. Each bag contains 10 gourmet foods from the local food community, a mix of sweet and savory items, baked goods, and products that No works hard for every month. Many of the items are donated, and there is at least one item of food from a black chef, farmer, or producer paid for their contribution.

To date, the group has raised $ 69,800, the majority of which went to KCEN.

“BLM chefs are great. They use cooking, eating, and a community-based model to raise funds for local organizing blacks. Your monthly support has helped sustain our racial justice work to create thriving black communities and eradicate the racial wealth inequalities in Washington State, ”KCEN President Isaac Joy wrote in a statement to the Seattle Times.

Over the past 16 months, Cooks for BLM has occasionally taken a few months off to regroup and reorganize. It can be a lot to ask for support from the restaurant community all the time, but No says it wasn’t that difficult to find donors.

Sarah Monson, cook at Rupee Bar and Manolin, has donated for the CSA bags on three separate occasions.

It was an easy yes for them, largely because of the group’s commitment to KCEN. “I just wanted to support the black-run organizers. I’ve researched where [the money] and what they wanted to do with it and wanted to support these initiatives, ”says Monson.

Dear Produce’s farmer Sheila Calhoun provided tomatillos and runner beans for the August box. It operates an acre in North Seattle and sells direct to restaurants. She knows Jacobs, who initially reached out to her to ask if she would contribute to the CSA bags, but Calhoun says she would have been interested in a donation even without the connection.

“I was so excited about what they were doing. I’ve worked in a lot of restaurants in Seattle and as a Black woman I didn’t feel that community and support, ”says Calhoun.

As part of Cooks for BLM’s commitment to pay black food producers for their dues, Calhoun was paid for their products.

“I had seen Cooks for BLM on Instagram and it was a thrill when [Jacobs] stretched out. I didn’t expect to be compensated, which was also very exciting, ”says Calhoun.

Each dispenser provides 72 items for the bags – this number includes a few extra items in case of spillage or damage – and the items are either picked up or dropped off the day before the volunteers are packed. The board meets every last Sunday of the month at 10 a.m. in Salumi to pack suitcases. There are vegetarian and gluten-free options, and by noon drivers like Grubbs and Stine flock in to pick up their route details and bags. Deliveries across Seattle and Bellevue are made in a matter of hours, and then it’s time to do it all over again.

The contents of the November box will be announced on October 31st. The line-up so far includes items from Mezza Notte, Ben’s Bread and Lenox, a pop-up directed by Jhonny Reyes.

No says she’s already getting donations for December. They take January off, and then in February the box will showcase all of the Black-owned businesses, which means they pay each contributor while raising money for KCEN at the same time.

Looking at Cooks’ goals for BLM and 2022, Jacobs mentions that she would like to see more black-owned companies as a whole in her pockets, while No suggests that she would like to see more of “the entire BIPOC” community. “(BIPOC stands for Black, Indigenous and People of Color.)

“There are so many restaurants. We made a fundraising appeal not long ago and there were so many listed that I hadn’t even heard of before. It’s really cool to see what’s out there and what we can possibly do, ”says No.

For Nielsen, the ultimate goal is to reach the $ 100,000 mark in donations. “For me that is the carrot before the cart.”

Jackie Variano
covers the food scene in the neighborhoods around Seattle. She loves digging into stories that discuss why we eat the things we do – and when – in our region and beyond. You can reach them at jvarriano@seattletimes.com. On Twitter: @JackieVarriano.