La Cocina and Giving Back

La Cocina http://www.lacocinasf.org/ is a San Francisco-based non-profit that helps low-income Latinas establish themselves as business owners in the food industry. Many Mexican immigrants who arrive in San Francisco move to the Mission District, a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood.

These families often struggle to make ends meet; in turn, many women turn to selling food for extra income. Whether they sell it on the street or in their homes, underground food operations are illegal in the United States. La Cocina’s aim is to help low-income women establish businesses that will generate revenue while still allowing the women to operate within the law.

I first heard about La Cocina through the TV show “Top Chef Masters”. The contestants on the show are top restaurant chefs who pledge to donate all of their winnings to NGOs.

Traci des Jardins, a competitor on “Top Chef Masters” and the executive chef of Jardinière in San Francisco, decided to give her winnings to La Cocina, an organization that holds a special place in her heart. In an interview on behalf of La Cocina, des Jardins said “La Cocina helps women be independent… and be their own bosses.” The community-based organization not only helps individual women establish themselves, but bolsters the economy of the entire community.

The women not only become financially stable through this process, but also contribute to the rich Northern California food scene- husband and wife Luis and Maria Vasquez started their own food truck and catering company, Chaac-Mool http://chaacmool.com/, selling traditional Mayan food to the community. A rare opportunity for Californians to be exposed to pre-Hispanic cuisine, with dishes such as their speciality, cochinita pibil, Achiote-rubbed, slow-roasted pork.

Some women who receive aid from La Cocina, such as Cristina Besher of Kika’s Treats http://kikastreats.com/ in San Francisco, go on to donate part of their profits (in the case of Kika’s Treats, 5%), to La Cocina. Besher, a native of São Paolo, Brazil, has been extremely successful with her business and Kika’s Treats is now sold in Whole Foods grocery stores throughout the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California.

Here is Cristina Besher, the founder of Kika’s Treats, talking about how La Cocina helps entrepreneurs like her with their food businesses:

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