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Community kitchens for food processing

Evidence Rating
Strategies with this rating are recommended by credible, impartial experts but have limited research documenting effects; further research, often with stronger designs, is needed to confirm effects.
Disparity Rating
No impact on disparities likely
Community Conditions
Civic and community resources
Diet and exercise
Authors
Lead: Lael Grigg
Contributor(s): Alison Bergum, Jessica Solcz
Acknowledgements: Kiersten Frobom
Date Last Updated
January 10, 2018

Community kitchens that support licensed, commercial food processing activities allow specialty food processors, farmers, caterers, and others to produce value-added goods at relatively low cost. Kitchen clients pay for the time they use the kitchen and frequently share their expertise with each other. Such community kitchens meet city, state, and federal health guidelines and can be run by many types of organizations including non-profits, private for-profit groups, universities, and state governments (UW CIAS-Kitchens).

What could this strategy improve?

Expected Benefits

Our evidence rating is based on the likelihood of achieving these outcomes:

  • Strengthened local & regional food systems

Potential Benefits

Our evidence rating is not based on these outcomes, but these benefits may also be possible:

  • Increased food security
  • Improved local economy

What does the research say about effectiveness? -+

Community kitchens that support licensed food processing are a suggested strategy to strengthen local and regional food systems (USDA-Community facilities), increase food security (USDA-CFPCGP), and enhance local economies (UW CIAS-Kitchens). A West Philadelphia-based report suggests community kitchens may support business development and food entrepreneurship, job creation, and neighborhood revitalization (Heeger 2014). Additional evidence is needed to confirm effects.

Interviews with community kitchen organizers suggest that having clear goals, knowledge of community-specific interest, detailed plans for addressing overhead costs and long-term profitability, and committed leadership with strong partnerships are key factors for success (UW CIAS-Kitchens, Topaloff 2014). 

Implementation Examples -+

As of 2017, there are 726 community kitchens that support licensed food processing in the U.S. registered with CulinaryIncubator.com (Culinary incubator).

Implementation Resources -+

AgMRC-Kitchens - Agricultural Marketing Resource Center (AgMRC). Kitchen incubators.

LHC-Rockeymoore 2014 - Rockeymoore M, Moscetti C, Fountain A. Rural childhood obesity prevention toolkit. Leadership for Healthy Communities (LHC), Center for Global Policy Solutions, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; 2014.

Topaloff 2014 - Topaloff A. The shared-use kitchen planning toolkit. Leopold Center Pubs and Papers. 2014.

UW-FBIN - Food Business Innovation Network (FoodBIN). Resources for incubators.

Citations -+

Culinary incubator - Culinary Incubator. The source in shared part-time commercial kitchen rentals.

Heeger 2014 - Heeger B. Cooking up success: The Enterprise Center-CDC and leveraging the food industry for community development. Social Innovations Journal. 2014.

Topaloff 2014 - Topaloff A. The shared-use kitchen planning toolkit. Leopold Center Pubs and Papers. 2014.

USDA-CFPCGP - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Community Food Projects Competitive Grant Program (CFPCGP).

USDA-Community facilities - U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). Community facilities programs.

UW CIAS-Kitchens - Center for Integrated Agricultural Systems (CIAS). Community kitchens: Key elements of success (Research brief #54).