🌱 OneKitchen Newsletter
February, 2026 | Issue 5
💬 Note from the Director
Last month, I shared how grateful I was to step into this role and begin listening.
What I didn’t expect was how quickly I would feel the strength of this network.
If you are part of OneKitchen, you are not just running a restaurant. You are shaping the future of our food system.
Across our coalitions, chefs are stepping into conversations about infrastructure, nutrition incentives, and food access with clarity and professionalism. That is leadership.
As we prepare for national expansion, I want you to understand this clearly.
You are not participants.
You are defining what influential chef leadership looks like.
The most influential leadership does not demand attention. It earns trust. And across this network, trust is being built state by state. If you feel that momentum, lean in. Bring another chef with you. This is how movements scale.
We are not waiting for change.
We are building it.
With belief in what we are creating,
Nokkie
OneKitchen Director
🥗 Wholesome Wave News
Wholesome Wave’s annual fundraiser, the Celebrity Chef Dinner, is officially scheduled for May 6th. We will bring together a group of chefs to help curate an unforgettable experience for Wholesome Wave’s major donors. Keep an eye out for more information!
📣 Program News & Updates
Program News:
We have a few exciting updates coming your way in March. First and foremost, our Georgia coalition will be launching a new Action Partner and roadmap. Stay tuned for more information, including a launch event and upcoming opportunities in Georgia.
In March we will be launching our Louisiana Coalition! We are proud to bring OneKitchen to Louisiana and look forward to the amazing work we will be doing there. More information on our Louisiana coalition will come in the following weeks, as we prepare for the launch.
Feeding Freedom Campaign Update:
Last week, the House Committee on Agriculture introduced the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, otherwise known as the Farm Bill. Within the bill, they authorized up to $200 million in funding for the LFPA program. This does not mean that the program is being funded, it is simply a recommendation to the Appropriations committee to fund up to $200 million each fiscal year from 2027-2031.
As a reminder our Feeding Freedom Campaign began in response to the cancellation of the Local Food Purchasing Assistant (LFPA) and Local Food for Schools (LFS) programs. These programs were created to support local food purchasing and promote regional agricultural economies by providing funding to local school systems, food banks, etc., to invest in local agriculture. The goal of our campaign is to elevate the importance of local purchasing and its real impact on farmers, chefs, and communities. While the inclusion of LFPA in the Farm Bill is not a guarantee of funding, it is a meaningful signal that local purchasing remains part of the national conversation.
The House is voting on the farm bill some time next week (official date of the vote is still tbd). If passed, it will move to the Senate for further deliberation. We will continue to keep you informed as this progresses.
🛠️ Tools & Resources
We are piloting a new policy news feature in the member portal. Every month we will upload a handful of news clips related to both national food systems policy as well as state-specific updates. Thanks to the hard work of our intern Maria, you can expect the page to be updated monthly. We will rely on your feedback to ensure that this feature grows into a useful resource for the greater OneKitchen community. Please do not hesitate to let us know what kind of news would be most interesting to you.
You can access the policy news page here.
🔦 Coalition Spotlight: Colorado
Our Colorado coalition organized a gratitude day at the Denver state capitol. The coalition brought 14 snack bags to legislators in both the state House and Senate to thank them for their continued work strengthening Colorado’s food system. Chefs Mara King, Jen Jasinski, Paul C. Reilly, and Alex Seidel all provided snacks for the group to hand out to legislators. Chefs Kenny Minton III, Russ Fox and Daniel Asher joined us at the capitol to hand out snacks and speak to legislators. Chef Daniel had the opportunity to speak to Senator Amabile about the work of OneKitchen and the importance of involving chefs in food systems policy.
As we discovered during the visit, state legislators have very limited food options at the Colorado state capitol so providing thoughtful, chef-made snacks had a bigger impact than we could’ve imagined. It is a reminder of the powerful influence chefs can have on elected officials, and the value of sharing food. This experience will serve as a model for future chef-led gratitude campaigns, and we're already planning additional opportunities to bring chefs back to the Colorado Capitol. Thank you to all the chefs who showed up for this gratitude day!
🚀✨ Until Next Time…
As a reminder, please be sure to join our OneKitchen WhatsApp community. This is the fastest and most direct way to stay connected with your fellow members and Coalition Coordinators going forward, as well as the fastest way to stay up-to-date on OneKitchen opportunities and news.
To join your coalition’s WhatsApp group, click the link below. If you join a state group, you will automatically be added to the National group.
(Louisiana to launch in March)
As always, do not hesitate to reach out to info@onekitchen-wholesomewave.org with any questions, comments, or feedback.
- The OneKitchen Team