Conquering COVID-19: Red Rabbit Fights Food Insecurity in NYC

NEW YORK, NY (April 2020) – Red Rabbit – the leading provider of fresh, made-from-scratch meals for underserved communities in the New York metro area – is providing emergency food for children and families with no access to free and reduced meals.

Since 2011, Red Rabbit has worked directly with charter and public schools, Pre-K for All, Head Start and private daycare programs to develop high-quality meal programs that incorporate breakfast, lunch and snacks, all under the federal reimbursement rates. As school closures were announced, Red Rabbit pivoted overnight and mobilized its 100+ employees and resources to ensure that vulnerable communities received the food they desperately needed. Red Rabbit has been a key provider of food for over fifteen years and recognizes the importance now, more than ever, to act on its mission to serve students and the increasing number of people who are now in need of meal assistance.

To ensure that students who rely on a school bus or subway to travel to school can receive free meals in a safe and convenient manner, Red Rabbit launched a new mobile route initiative in Harlem, the Bronx, Brooklyn and the Lower East Side that enables the team to extend its impact and reach communities that have limited access to quality food. Red Rabbit team members spend 20 minutes at each stop along the route, engaging with families as they pick up their meals.

Red Rabbit is continuing to prepare fresh and made from scratch meals at its kitchen in Harlem for distribution at sites across NYC. In addition to delivering meals daily to partners, Red Rabbit offers a 5-Day Meal Kit that students can pick up at distribution sites once a week in order to limit travel time and promote social distancing. Red Rabbit is on track to provide up to 15,000 meals across 200 sites in the New York metro area daily while stay-at-home orders are in effect.

Driven by Red Rabbit’s mission to provide high-quality food to underrepresented groups in the community, Red Rabbit has partnered with Chef José Andrés’ charity, World Central Kitchen, during this outbreak to prepare meals for older adults living in Harlem, Washington Heights, Washington Heights and Downtown Manhattan. Red Rabbit’s fifteen years of experience producing large quantities of fresh, made-from-scratch food at a cost-effective price-point made them an ideal partner for World Central Kitchen.

“Our team strives to provide dignified access to quality food for vulnerable groups in our community. We serve chef-made meals and create a fulfilling experience, from daily interactions with our talented team to the presentation of each meal,” said Rhys Powell, Founder of Red Rabbit.

Red Rabbit is unparalleled in their standard for the level of food quality and variety that kids receive, at prices below the federal reimbursement rate. Each component of a meal prepared by Red Rabbit is made-from-scratch – everything from the salad dressing to the muffins – and made fresh daily in Red Rabbit’s Harlem kitchen. Favorite menu items offered through Red Rabbit meal programs include cauliflower mac & cheese, al pastor tacos and pesto chicken. In tandem with providing quality food to students, Red Rabbit’s Education Programs aim to cultivate confidence and curiosity when interacting with ingredients in a hands-on learning environment that helps foster healthy relationships with food.

For more information, visit www.myredrabbit.com or follow the company’s work on Instagram and Facebook.

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Red Rabbit is a socially driven company whose mission is to provide all children with access to nutritious, made-from-scratch meals at school while encouraging them to explore, learn and grow healthy relationships with food. Founded in 2005, Red Rabbit pivoted its business model in 2011 to a social business model that prepares CACFP and NSLP compliant meals for public programs. Red Rabbit now works directly with charter and public schools, Pre-K for All, Head Start and private daycare programs to develop high-quality meal programs that incorporate breakfast, lunch and snacks. In 2019, Red Rabbit worked with nearly 180 independent, charter and public schools as well as Pre-K for All, Head Start and private daycare programs across the New York metro area, serving more than 28,000 fresh meals and snacks every day.

Danielle Donchetz | [email protected]