🌱 OneKitchen Newsletter
March, 2026 | Issue 6
💬 Note from the Director
There are moments in this work that remind us exactly why we do it. Right now, we are seeing these moments happen across multiple states.
In California, chefs showed up in a powerful way for their Legislative Action Day bringing their voices directly into policy spaces and as an industry advocating for the communities they serve.
In Colorado, we’re seeing what advocacy looks like after a bill passes. Chefs are continuing to show up by building relationships, connecting with the students who are directly impacted and seeing firsthand how this work translates into real lives and real meals.
In Texas, the coalition is beginning to organize around a OneKitchen Fundraiser to ensure their coalition can create new ways to support and sustain this work locally.
In Georgia, they are preparing to onboard a New Action Partner and begin work around Produce Prescriptions, kick starting a new roadmap for their coalition!
This is what it looks like to make an impact through the power of food.
It is also a reminder that your influence as chefs extends far beyond the four walls of your restaurants. The way you show up, the stories you tell, and the trust you’ve built in your communities all carry weight. You have the ability to shape conversations, shift perspectives and advocate for change in ways that truly matter.
As we continue to grow, I encourage each of you to bring another chef into this work. Invite someone from your community, share what we’re building and connect them with your state coordinator. This is how we strengthen our coalition, through relationship, through trust and through all of you.
If you haven’t yet, join your state WhatsApp, stay engaged, and keep showing up. This only works if we do it together!
We’re building something real at OneKitchen let’s continue to move forward together,
Nokkie Lipsey
Director, OneKitchen
🔦 Coalition Spotlight: Louisiana
On March 23rd, we launched our fifth coalition in New Orleans, Louisiana. We’d like to give a HUGE thank you to our coalition coordinator, Molly Mueller, and our Head Chefs, Sophina Uong and Dickie Brennan, for all their hard work making this launch a success. The launch was hosted by Chef Sophina at her incredible restaurant Mister Mao. It was followed by a Collaborative Dinner at Paradigm Gardens where we had the opportunity to cook together, break bread, and build community around the shared goal of being changemakers in the communities we call home.
OneKitchen Louisiana will be working alongside the New Orleans Food Policy Council to focus their efforts on local food procurement both in New Orleans and statewide across Louisiana. Purchasing local food helps build healthier and stronger communities. Chefs can play an important role in educating both the public and state lawmakers on the benefits of having a robust local food system. The culinary community is well equipped to identify and address the policy and system barriers that prevent local food procurement.
Following the launch, we will be working with NOLA Food Policy Council on creating a roadmap that will provide our Louisiana Coalition with experiential learning opportunities related to their issue area. There will also be an hour-long virtual onboarding presentation on April 27th for any chefs who are interested in learning more about OneKitchen Louisiana but weren’t able to make the launch event.
Thank you to all those who made this launch a success, we look forward to the amazing work ahead in Louisiana!
📣 Program News & Updates
As a final part of the Feeding Freedom Campaign, some of our OneKitchen chefs had the amazing opportunity to get Op-Eds published in local media outlets across three OneKitchen states, California, Texas, and Louisiana. We would like to give a huge congratulations to John Trujillo, Kelsey Nederveld, Sophina Uong, and John & Elise Russ for successfully getting their Op-Eds published. Their Op-Eds centered on the importance of federal funding for local food purchasing to increase fresh, locally sourced produce in schools and strengthen community food systems. You can read each one below:
Sacramento schools need federal support to bring local food to students | Opinion Co-authored by John Trujillo and Kelsey Nederveld
Guest Column: Good food doesn’t come from nowhere by Sophina Uong
Locally Sourced Food Should be a Key Ingredient at San Antonio Schools Co-authored by John & Elise Russ
We’d also like to give a huge congratulations to Chefs Justin Richardson, Kevin McGee, Daniel Asher, Josh Niernberg, Rob Nelson, and Eliot Norris for writing and submitting Op-Eds to their local publications. We will be sure to keep everyone updated if any more Op-Eds get published.
🛠️ Tools & Resources
Our February Advocacy news updates are live on the portal here. As a reminder the Advocacy News section of the Member’s Portal will be updated monthly with a wide range of both national and coalition-specific food systems news. The goal is to give you a starting off point to help you stay up to date with what’s happening in your state and at the federal level when it comes to food systems change. Please reach out with any feedback or topics that are of interest to you.
As a reminder, if you are not a part of our WhatsApp community, you will miss out on the majority of our OneKitchen updates and resources. Please join your state’s WhatsApp community using the links below:
🚀✨ Until Next Time…
As always, if you have any feedback or questions please do not hesitate to reach out to us at info@onekitchen-wholesomewave.org or to Nokkie and Zoe directly via WhatsApp.
- The OneKitchen Team