SOCIAL MISSION
RE-Fresh creates values through two disciplines: 1) providing refugees with appropriate skills and financial rewards for their contributions; and 2) educating the general public on the importance and ease of healthy and local cooking.
This is all done with a cultural traditional twist. We partner with refugees chefs from low income region. Aside from mentorship in basic disciplines, RE-Fresh offers them an opportunity to work closely with established community facilities and members, thus exposing them to a face of the community they might not have as much exposure to otherwise. By doing so, they receive financial incentives, hopefully to continue enriching Philadelphia with their unique skillsets. The target audience for the cooking lessons are those interested in eating in a healthy manner local foods inexpensively. Essentially, eating enough is not the same as eating well. The cooking lessons here have a strong emphasis on fresh, cheap, and local material which is prepared nutritiously.
RE-Fresh aims to help refugees improve their quality of life through better eating habits. The four root causes we aim to target are food desert, underemployment, limited budget, and lack of education.
Philadelphia has the second-lowest number of supermarkets per capita in the US. Refugees residing in Philadelphia have less experience navigating different food options and tend to gravitate towards low cost, unhealthy options. The popularity of low cost options is reinforced by the underemployment that many refugees face, as they don’t have the same skills and certifications as others in the community. Many of the skills shortages refugee families face are due to a lack of education. This negative cycle of underemployment and lack of education directly leads to less of an emphasis on healthy food, and thus many refugee families face a more limited food budget. Instead of taking the time to seek out markets that sell traditional foods, many assimilate into the American culture of fast food. Other limitations our target audience face include linguistic barriers, emphasis on healthy eating, and unfamiliarity with how to navigate the food options available to them. We believe these problems can be addressed by encouraging both healthy eating and cultural expression.