More Than Just Bread
For a late summer outing, the Echoing Green team recently made an exciting site visit to 2008 Echoing Green Fellow Jessamyn Waldman’s Hot Bread Kitchen. Located in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, in historic La Marqueta, Hot Bread Kitchen does not just contain the ingredients for delicious bread, but Jessamyn has developed a recipe for success for the women who work there.
Immediately walking into La Marqueta—a historic city-owned retail market—the smell of fresh bread greets you. Welcomed by HBK’s staff and bakers, we toured La Marqueta, discovering that the marketplace was once the center of Hispanic Harlem during its heyday in the 1950’s and 1960’s. Over 500 vendors operated out of La Marqueta at one point, serving as an important social and economic lynchpin for the community. Sadly, the following decades left La Marqueta neglected, but with HBK locating there in 2010, Jessamyn explained how she hoped her organization could serve as the catalyst to revive the historic market.
Our first stop within HBK’s operations was its “incubator,” a place where female entrepreneurs can rent subsidized kitchen space to start and grow their catering and food businesses. This is just one example we learned of HBK serving the surrounding community and supporting female entrepreneurship.
As the tour progressed, the EG staff were eager to roll up their sleeves and lend a hand in the kitchen. HBK’s star bakers, Marie Poison and Lutfunnessa Islam instructed the staff on how to make their most popular bread called m’smen. This buttery, flaky Moroccan flatbread traditionally is rolled out and folded, then cooked on a griddle. As we all got our hands messy, rolling out dough, Marie and Lutfunnessa explained how HBK not only is an employer, but a unique organization that invests in its bakers. By providing essential bakery, food supervisory and production skills, in addition to weekly English lessons, we learned more about how HBK looks to not just employ, but actively place their bakers at prominent, high wage jobs at other restaurants and bakeries. In fact, Jessamyn even told us that a few of their bakers have gone on to plan or open small businesses themselves. This assistance that combines a successful mix of employment, training and placement, truly makes HBK’s model bold, innovative, and economically empowering for their female bakers. To date, HBK has had a big impact, employing dozens of women, therefore serving as a powerful workforce pipeline for one of the city’s most important industries.
The visit to HBK was extremely special as Echoing Green’s staff has few opportunities to make on-site visits to Fellows’ organizations. This experience truly renewed and reinforced how central our work is behind the scenes, as we assist our Fellows to make their visions a reality. Out of our trip, we realized that HBK’s phenomenal breads are not just amazingly delicious, but each bread (m’smen, challah, European artisan loafs, etc.) carries a meaning to them as well. The recipes, shared by HBK’s bakers, tell a story of cultural diversity, perseverance and immigrant aspiration. Fortunately, you don’t need to only visit HBK to understand these amazing women’s stories and to enjoy their bread; HBK products are now sold at Whole Foods and a number of other markets across the city.
A special thank you again from Echoing Green’s staff to Jessamyn and the HBK staff for a fantastic visit!
http://news.yourolivebranch.org/2011/09/30/more-than-just-bread/
[Source: Echoing Green]