Food insecurity has been a significant adverse impact of the COVID-19 crisis. But for one local nonprofit, hunger relief isn’t “one size fits all.”
“Our mission is to provide nutritious food to people living with critical illnesses,” shared Alberto Cortes, CEO at local nonprofit Mama’s Kitchen. The organization develops and delivers medically tailored meals to people navigating HIV, diabetes, congestive heart failure, chronic kidney disease and cancer.
“Our goal with our services isn’t just about hunger. We’ve moved from hunger to nutrition and from nutrition to food that actually helps people’s prognoses improve,” Cortes said of efforts to provide food as medicine and meet the holistic needs of clients.
Cortes also shared how the pandemic highlighted economic and health disparities that exist among San Diego communities. To address these more urgently, Mama’s Kitchen is moving its pantry to an area closer to public transportation, hiring a licensed clinical social worker to enroll individuals who are not currently connected with a health care system, hiring a third registered dietitian to provide more nutrition education, and making its nutrition education available in multiple languages.
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