While the food industry presents many opportunities for economic growth, Hot Bread Kitchen’s members—who are women, gender-expansive people, immigrants, and people of color— still persistently face intersectional challenges in accessing these avenues of economic mobility. As we enter Women’s History Month, we’re reflecting on the continued necessity of our mission for the culinary industry and for New York City.
We know there is a need for workers in the food industry, and we know there are plenty of people eager to pursue these opportunities. Our employer partners consistently ask for Hot Bread Kitchen’s support to create more talented pipelines of workers, particularly for advanced roles. Through our food entrepreneurship programs, job skills training, and ecosystem of wraparound support in New York City, we are able to help bridge that gap. Our deeply rooted presence throughout the city both at our Chelsea Market kitchen and our community outposts throughout the boroughs, along with our connections in the culinary industry allow us to help do the work to build a more equitable food industry that unites people, launches careers and changes lives.
CULINARY CAREERS
Over the last 16 years, we have supported our community by adapting to the needs and challenges faced by our city. While supporting women, immigrants, and people of color has remained a core part of our work, we recognize how other groups are also excluded from economic mobility in the food industry, including non-binary and gender expansive individuals.
New York City’s food industry presents ample opportunities for economic growth and mobility. The issue is not about a lack of opportunity or lack of those interested in pursuing this industry, but of barriers to specific communities towards accessing what is out there.
Although women make up the majority of food industry workers, they are underrepresented in advanced, higher-paying roles. According to the Economic Policy Institute, women make up only 47% of managers, 28% of cooks, and only 14% of chefs or head cooks.
This is where Hot Bread Kitchen comes in. Through our career programs, women and gender expansive people gain skills and confidence in and out of the kitchen to prepare for careers in the food industry and beyond. Our signature culinary training program provides fundamental food industry skills and places program graduates in high-quality jobs within Hot Bread Kitchen’s large network of employer partners. We have also partnered with the New York City Department of Small Business Services to present First Course NYC, which provides culinary instruction and apprenticeship opportunities for aspiring restaurant cooks. And this year, we are launching our new Front of House training program, which teaches participants about hospitality and customer service with the goal of positioning members for higher wage roles and career advancement. Hot Bread Kitchen offers human-centered services and support that help our members develop as workers and entrepreneurs, so they can achieve stability and fulfill their life ambitions.
Hot Bread Kitchen’s Quality Jobs Initiative aims to address system-wide issues that affect job quality for all workers. We work directly with owners, operators, and workers in the industry to address operational challenges that get in the way of offering good food jobs. Through smart operational choices, effective investments in people, and solid HR practices, businesses can offer better jobs that help them run better, too—because good jobs are good business.
SMALL BUSINESS SUPPORT
Gender inequality is not only present in the workforce of professional kitchens, but in food entrepreneurship as well. Women entrepreneurs, especially women of color, face systemic barriers to accessing capital, markets, and other critical resources that can position their business as a source of personal income and wealth generation. According to a report by Fundera, women are offered less money and receive higher interest rates on business loans than men do. Next Street’s NYC Small Business Ecosystem Assessment states that “while Black and Latinx residents make up 24% and 29% of the population, respectively, they only own 3% and 7% of all employer small businesses, and women only own 42% of those businesses.”
This lack of representation in food entrepreneurship is amplified by a lack of support specifically geared towards women, gender expansive people, and people of color. According to New Venture Fund’s An Economy for All, “out of hundreds of accelerators and incubators, only a handful have an explicit focus on underrepresented entrepreneurs.”
At Hot Bread Kitchen, we recognize that each entrepreneur will face a unique set of challenges for their business depending on a variety of factors. Our HBK Incubates programs are designed to meet entrepreneurs where they are, and provide them with individualized support to seed, start, and scale their small businesses.
This Women’s History Month, we’d like to honor and thank the community of Hot Bread Kitchen members, staff, board, and partners who have championed our mission and put us in a position to continue pursuing a more equitable world where all people have the opportunity and support to pursue personal, professional, and economic growth.
Coming Home to a More Inclusive Culinary Industry
“After leaving my career as a professional chef and working in the nonprofit sector for 15 years, I was finally back in the kitchen, combining my professional passions. But there was one key difference from my time in the food industry. Our kitchen is a space designed for women, immigrants, and people of color to thrive–including mothers.”
Honoring Women’s Agency
“What’s similar about the elimination of reproductive rights and the lack of available childcare options is that they both curtail women’s ability to engage in self-determination and participate fully in civil society.“
