21. Ken Baker – Rethink Food
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New York City is one of the wealthiest cities in the world–and the financial capital of the world. And yet, food insecurity in the city is rampant. About one in three adults and nearly half of families with children experience "food hardship" each year, defined as "sometimes or often running out of food, or a person worrying that they will."
At the same time, about 40 percent of all food in the United States goes unsold or uneaten each year. The greenhouse gas emissions that result from this wasted food are equivalent to the annual carbon dioxide emissions of 42 coal-fired power plants. Once this excess food is produced, the best way to minimize the climate impacts is to donate or upcycle the food that will otherwise go to waste.
What if this excess food in the food system could be rescued and put to use to create jobs, to build community, and to combat inequality and food insecurity?
This is exactly what a nonprofit organization in New York City, called Rethink Food, has been doing since its founding in 2017 by Matt Jozwiak (You-swee-ak). Jozwiak is a former chef at Eleven Madison Park, a restaurant in Manhattan with three Michelin stars, voted–also in 2017–the world's best restaurant.
Rethink Food began finding and rescuing excess food in the food system and turning it into high quality meals that they gave away through their growing list of partner organizations in the city. The organization remains chef-led, priding itself on creating nutrient dense, culturally relevant, and great tasting meals.
Rethink Food has grown rapidly since its founding and today serves over 40,000 meals a week, sometimes over 50,000 meals a week. They've accomplished these amazing numbers by partnering with restaurants and other kitchens around the city, often creating meals between lunch and dinner, when the kitchens typically see little use.
Ken Baker is one of the people who's been with Rethink Food through much of its growth. He grew up with a single mother in Baltimore and experienced food insecurity himself as a child, before getting into food service early in life. He now serves as the culinary director at Rethink Food and helps build the organization's impact through the relationships he's built around the kitchen and around the city.
I met Ken in the course of production on a new film I'm making about consumption and waste in New York City. I've found him to be an extraordinarily warm person, driven by deeply held values.
For me, Ken's story, and the story of Rethink Food more broadly, is one of cascading solutions. I often talk about cascading crises–of climate change, habitat destruction, mass extinction, and environmental injustice. Ken and Rethink Food show us that this cascading effect can also work in reverse: a cascade of solutions, rather than a cascade of crises. It's inspiring and hopeful.
It turns out that a solution to the huge ecological problem of food waste can also serve as a solution to injustice, inequality, food insecurity, loneliness, lack of purpose, lack of community, and more.
I'm John Fiege, and this is Chrysalis. You can subscribe at johnfiege.earth, where you will also find show notes and all episodes of the podcast, plus my writing, photographs, and films.
I recorded my interview with Ken in September of 2025, during Climate Week, at the offices of Rethink Food. Occasionally, in the distance, you will hear the telltale signs of life in the heart of Manhattan.
Here is Ken Baker.
Notes and Media Recommendations:
- Robin Hood, "Robin Hood Poverty Tracker Finds One in Three New Yorkers Have Used a Food Pantry Over a Three-year Period Following the Pandemic"
- Natural Resources Defense Council, "Food Waste 101"
- Rethink Food
- The World's 50 Best Restaurants: Eleven Madison Park
Credits
This episode was edited by Isabella Fleming. Music is by Daniel Rodríguez Vivas. Mixing is by Morgan Honaker.