So long 2016, bring it on 2017! Every year deserves a recap, to highlight successes and reflect on learnings. This year was no different except it was our very FIRST year! The Food Corridor officially launched in June 2016 and we’re not slowing down. Below is a recap of our journey thus far and a few ways you too can become more involved in food for the new year.
First, we’d like to thank you all for being there with us through the launch! Our team has accomplished a lot over the last year. We know we wouldn’t be where we are today without our fans, clients, advisors, supporters, and of course, our Network of Incubator & Commissary Kitchens (NICK group).
2016 saw us kick off the business and website, grow our community, iterate our product, hone our message, share our learnings, and travel the nation to see some folks from our shared kitchen community. We are grateful! Moreover, we are incredibly excited for 2017 to build on these experiences.
How will YOU be more engaged with your food in 2017? We have a few suggestions…
Subscribe – Want more foodie news to read? Who doesn’t? Our monthly newsletter features food industry and shared kitchen stories, as well as job boards and upcoming events. You can sign up at the bottom of this page. Check out our social media too – Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn!
For broader industry news and resources:
Volunteer – You don’t have to launch your own community kitchen to get involved in various food communities. Organizations like Campus Kitchens, Meals on Wheels, and Volunteer Match’s Fight Hunger initiative heavily leverage shared kitchen resources. Volunteering with one of these orgs may just be your gateway into cooking big for a target market and launching your own food biz to solve a market gap – PLUS you’ll be doing some good along the way.
Donate – Websites like Barnraiser and Crowdfooding focus on helping food-related businesses fund their initiatives. From launching a kitchen to planting a garden to publishing a holiday cocktail recipe book, these sites are helping foodpreneurs access creative and low-cost capital to pursue their dreams. Consider donating to a project near and dear to your heart and following its progress throughout the year! Our friends at Lakeview Kitchen (Chicago, IL) and Taproot, The Lopez Island Kitchen Coop (Lopez Island, WA) recently ran their own campaigns and shared a few of their lessons with us.
Eat – All the kitchens, foodpreneurs, funding resources, and food conferences in the world don’t mean much if we don’t eat the food that comes from those resources and initiatives. This can mean a variety of things: buying local, growing your own, gifting food stuffs, hosting a dinner, or simply reaching out for that recipe you’ve been lusting after for years. Bottom line – it doesn’t take much to engage in your food community. So go make a difference, one sandwich at a time.
