CulinaryCorps

Last updated
CulinaryCorps, Inc.
CulinaryCorps-Logo.png
Founded2006
FounderChristine Carroll (Founder)
Type Public charity
FocusService Organization for Culinary Professionals
Location
Key people
Christine Carroll - Founding Director
Viviana Acosta-Padial - Program Coordinator
Website culinarycorps.org

CulinaryCorps is an American non-profit organization that recruits culinary students and professionals to volunteer their professional skills on trips to communities in the United States.

Contents

History

The organization was founded by Christine Carroll following a volunteer trip to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. [1] [2] Carroll and other experienced culinary professionals were helping to repaint a local school when she conceived the idea of a food-focused volunteer organization. Upon returning home she launched CulinaryCorps to enable cooks to volunteer their professional skills to assist communities in need.

Carroll coined the term "culanthropy" (a portmanteau of the words "culinary" and "philanthropy") to describe the organization's brand of food-focused volunteerism. [1] [3]

Function

The organization recruits culinary students and professionals in the culinary industry to volunteer on week-long trips to communities in the United States. The objective of CulinaryCorps is to make a lasting impact on the community served, while simultaneously inspiring its volunteers to become lifelong champions of positive social change through food and cooking. CulinaryCorps members have volunteered on trips to New Orleans, Louisiana; the Mississippi Gulf Coast; and Puerto Rico. [1] [4] [5]

Impact

In its first sixteen months, the organization launched five volunteer trips during which, more than 3,500 meals were prepared by 76 volunteer cooks from across the United States. [3] Since then, the organization has launched additional trips to New Orleans, the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and Puerto Rico. [5] Each volunteer trip lasts about a week.

During each volunteer trip, the organization's team partners with a variety of local organizations to perform food-related projects for the local community's benefit. [6] [7] [8] [9] For example, in the New Orleans and Mississippi Gulf Coast regions, CulinaryCorps has partnered with many local and nonprofit organizations, including:

Related Research Articles

Habitat for Humanity Nonprofit organization devoted to building affordable housing

Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization, which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a Christian organization. The international operational headquarters are located in Americus, Georgia, United States, with the administrative headquarters located in Atlanta. As of 2020, Habitat for Humanity operates in more than 70 countries.

Paul Prudhomme American chef

Paul Prudhomme, also known as Gene Autry Prudhomme, was an American celebrity chef whose specialties were Creole and Cajun cuisines, which he was also credited with popularizing. He was the chef proprietor of K-Paul's Louisiana Kitchen in New Orleans, and had formerly owned and run several other restaurants. He developed several culinary products, including hot sauce and seasoning mixes, and wrote 11 cookbooks.

Hurricane Katrina Category 5 Atlantic hurricane in 2005

Hurricane Katrina was a large and destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the costliest tropical cyclone on record and is now tied with 2017's Hurricane Harvey. The storm was the twelfth tropical cyclone, the fifth hurricane, and the third major hurricane of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season, as well as the fourth-most intense Atlantic hurricane on record to make landfall in the contiguous United States.

Hurricane preparedness in New Orleans

Hurricane preparedness in New Orleans has been an issue since the city's early settlement because of its location.

Hurricane Katrina disaster relief

The disaster recovery response to Hurricane Katrina included federal government agencies such as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the United States Coast Guard (USCG), state and local-level agencies, federal and National Guard soldiers, non-governmental organizations, charities, and private individuals. Tens of thousands of volunteers and troops responded or were deployed to the disaster; most in the affected area but also throughout the U.S. at shelters set up in at least 19 states.

2005 levee failures in Greater New Orleans Flood wall failures

On Monday, August 29, 2005, there were over 50 failures of the levees and flood walls protecting New Orleans, Louisiana, and its suburbs following passage of Hurricane Katrina and landfall in Mississippi. The levee and flood wall failures caused flooding in 80% of New Orleans and all of St. Bernard Parish. Tens of billions of gallons of water spilled into vast areas of New Orleans, flooding over 100,000 homes and businesses. Responsibility for the design and construction of the levee system belongs to the United States Army Corps of Engineers; the responsibility of maintenance belongs to the local levee boards. The Corps hands components of the system over to the local levee boards upon completion. When Katrina struck on August 29, 2005, the project was between 60–90% complete. Four major investigations were conducted by civil engineers and other experts in an attempt to identify the underlying reasons for the failure of the federal flood protection system. All concur that the primary cause of the flooding was inadequate design and construction by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Leah Chase American chef and artist

Leyah (Leah) Chase was an American chef based in New Orleans, Louisiana. An author and television personality, she was known as the Queen of Creole Cuisine, advocating both African-American art and Creole cooking. Her restaurant, Dooky Chase, was known as a gathering place during the 1960s among many who participated in the Civil Rights Movement, and was known as a gallery due to its extensive African-American art collection. In 2018 it was named one of the 40 most important restaurants of the past 40 years by Food & Wine.

Emergency Communities

Emergency Communities was a volunteer organization which formed after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It provided meals and other relief to residents and emergency responders, first in Mississippi, then in Louisiana. Emergency Communities ran sites in St. Bernard Parish, Plaquemines Parish, and Orleans Parish's Lower Ninth Ward, and then closed its doors on Thanksgiving of 2007. Nonprofit organization lowernine.org took the reins with regard to Emergency Communities' rebuild work, and continues to work on Eldorado Street rebuilding homes for residents of this devastated community. As of June 2009, lowernine.org has rebuilt twenty homes, in addition to working on hundreds of projects large and small across the community.

SBP (nonprofit organization) American disaster relief organization

SBP is a nonprofit, disaster relief organization. After temporarily volunteering in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, Liz McCartney and Zack Rosenburg returned permanently in March 2006 and founded the project. The organization eventually expanded to include offices in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Joplin, Missouri, Columbia, South Carolina, New Jersey, New York, and West Virginia. By August 2017, SBP had rebuilt over 1,200 homes nationwide, including 600 in New Orleans. They have collaborated extensively with Toyota and Americorps. As a result of its accomplishments, the organization and its founders have been recognized by Senator Mary Landrieu, CNN, and President Barack Obama.

Aarón Sánchez is a Mexican celebrity chef, restaurateur, television personality, cookbook author and philanthropist. He is the executive chef and part-owner of the Mexican restaurant Johnny Sánchez in New Orleans.

New Waveland Cafe and Clinic Disaster response center in New Waveland

The New Waveland Café and New Waveland Clinic together formed a disaster response center consisting of a combination café, soup kitchen, medical clinic, donation center, and market, that operated free of charge from September 5 to December 1, 2005 in immediate Post-Katrina Mississippi Gulf Coast in Waveland, Hancock County, Mississippi. The cafe and clinic were founded in response to Hurricane Katrina and provided free food and free medical care to hurricane victims for three months. They were located in tents in the parking lot of Fred's Department Store at 790 Hwy 90 in Waveland, across the street from the destroyed and gutted Waveland Police Department. The New Waveland Cafe served three free meals every day to thousands of residents and volunteers. The New Waveland Clinic provided free health care to over 5,500 patient contacts. As well, a group of hippies and Christians came together to form a unique group which worked together to provide emergency relief.

Gulfscapes Magazine was a lifestyle magazine for those who live or vacation along the Gulf coast. The magazine emphasized home design and travel. Articles offered information on home interiors; coastal recreation; food; travel destinations; and style. The magazine was created in 2001 in Port Aransas, TX by Victoria Munt Rogers.

Southern Food and Beverage Museum

The Southern Food and Beverage Museum is a non-profit museum based in New Orleans, Louisiana with a mission to explore the culinary history of the American Southern states, to explain the roots of Southern food and drinks. Their exhibits focus on every aspect of food in the South, from the cultural traditions to the basic recipes and communities formed through food.

Camp Restore is a Christian organization that operates a shelter for up to 240 people at the Prince of Peace Lutheran church in New Orleans East. First opened on September 10, 2006, these accommodations are used to house volunteers from across the United States as they help rebuild homes and buildings in the surrounding communities that had been destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. It also has locations in Baton Rouge and Detroit.

Susan Spicer is a New Orleans-based chef, who owns several restaurants in that city, including a take-out food market which doubles as a bakery. She has received several awards, and appeared in the 2009 finale of the Bravo television program Top Chef. Currently she has a partnership with Regina Keever, and together they opened Bayona in 1990, a four star restaurant.

Moscas

Mosca's is a Louisiana Creole Italian restaurant in Avondale, Louisiana, near New Orleans. Operated by the same family since it opened in 1946, it has long been regarded as one of New Orleans' best restaurants, known for dishes such as Oysters Mosca, crab salad, and Chicken a la Grande.

Cuisine of New Orleans Culinary traditions of New Orleans, Louisiana, US

The cuisine of New Orleans encompasses common dishes and foods in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is perhaps the most distinctively recognized regional cuisine in the United States. Some of the dishes originated in New Orleans, while others are common and popular in the city and surrounding areas, such as the Mississippi River Delta and southern Louisiana. The cuisine of New Orleans is heavily influenced by Creole cuisine, Cajun cuisine, and soul food. Seafood also plays a prominent part in the cuisine. Dishes invented in New Orleans include po' boy and muffuletta sandwiches, oysters Rockefeller and oysters Bienville, pompano en papillote, and bananas Foster, among others.

David Guas

David Guas is a chef, TV personality, restaurateur and cookbook author from New Orleans, Louisiana.

Lee Barnes was an American chef, cookbook author, and cooking teacher in New Orleans, Louisiana during the 1970s and 1980s. She founded the Lee Barnes Cooking School and Gourmet Shop in 1974, and participated in many culinary events and demonstrations in and around New Orleans, as well as in Florida, New York, Washington D.C., France, and Thailand.

Lena Richard American chef

Lena Richard was a chef, cookbook author, restaurateur, frozen food entrepreneur, and television host from New Orleans, Louisiana. In 1949, Richard became likely the first Black woman to host her own television cooking show. Her show aired from October 1949 - November 1950 on local television station WDSU.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Adam Fisher (12 October 2008). "Culanthropy". New York Times.
  2. Judy Walker (31 May 2007). "Volunteers Are Stirred to Action". New Orleans Time-Picayune.
  3. 1 2 "Report from Taste3: 'Culanthropy' in New Orleans with the Culinary Corps". The Ethicurean. 5 August 2008. Archived from the original on 28 September 2018.
  4. Megan Krigbaum (November 2009). "Culinary Crusaders: CulinaryCorps. The Mission: Mobilize Chefs to Do Good". Food & Wine.
  5. 1 2 "'Culanthropy' Travels to Puerto Rico". KCRW Good Food. 25 January 2010.
  6. Julie Schwietert (13 July 2008). "When a Vacation Isn't Just a Vacation: Voluntourism with the Culinary Corps". Washington Times. Archived from the original on 16 October 2012.
  7. Bunny Wong (2 June 2009). "10 Unique Ways to Help Others: Learn How to Give Back to Your Community by Volunteering". Women's Day.[ permanent dead link ]
  8. Julie Schwietert (13 May 2008). "The Peace Corps for Cooks: Volunteer Travel with the Culinary Corps". Matador Change.
  9. Judy Walker (4 April 2009). "Culinary Professionals to Assist with Gulf Coast Recovery". New Orleans Times-Picayune. Archived from the original on 17 May 2018.