Start Fresh Project Society

Our Organization: We are a local non-profit organization rooted in social innovation and ready to get to work for you. Although we are fresh on the scene, we are already making strides in improving the lives of our community members. We operate a Culinary Arts and Farm Education (CAFE) Program for individuals experiencing unemployment or underemployment, caused by barriers in access to skills training or sustainable work opportunities. Our primary goal is to foster self-confidence, community, and employment skills in both cooking and farming, as well as providing participants with connections to local businesses, restaurants, and farms that will not only employ these individuals but continue to support skill-enhancement on the job. History: Start Fresh formed as a group of socially-conscious individuals ranging from culinary professionals to holistic nutritionists, farmers, and those immersed in the social service sector of our community. The group began to facilitate free cooking classes at local community spaces to encourage vulnerable individuals to cook and eat more fresh, local, and wholesome foods. The group quickly evolved into a registered non-profit organization that facilitates culinary and farm education programming to inspire people about food, The curriculum is delivered consciously as an employment and life skills training program, and creates access points to meaningful employment during and after completion. Start Fresh has been inspired to expand the project to reach more community members and offer better employment opportunities to our program participants. This is why The Start Fresh Kitchen was opened — as a social enterprise and collaborative kitchen space that hosts boutique cooking classes and caters events, providing a direct immersion into the culinary world for participants.