Nourishing Community,
Building Equity
Propel Kitchens is a nonprofit training, education and social enterprise developer focused on creating health and wealth with food. We’re a community kitchen and collaborative platform for Black and Brown food producers and entrepreneurs.
Our mission
Propel Kitchens’ mission is to utilize nutrition, food industry training and education initiatives as tools to equip and enable St. Louis residents and communities to combat persistent economic and health inequities.
Our focus is multi-dimensional. We work to create health and wealth through food with our programs.
Culinary Education
We train and equip Black and Brown people with not only the culinary skills needed by restaurants and caterers, but also the culinary and business skills necessary to succeed in careers in the broader foodservice industry and institutional foodservice companies.
Feeding the Community
We attack food access and chronic disease disparities by producing and distributing high-quality, healthy food to individuals, communities and institutions—especially the Black and Brown families and individuals who live in food deserts and disproportionately suffer from chronic disease for which healthy food is medicine.
Helping Food Entrepreneuers
We support the growth and sustainability of Black and Brown food entrepreneurs, producers and growers with technical assistance, access to contracts and financing, as well as retail exposure.
Poised for growth
We have already created a new social enterprise cooperative of Black and Brown food entrepreneurs and nonprofits to broaden exposure and opportunities for growth and sustainability.
More to come
A second social enterprise focused on producing and distributing plant-based packaged foods and meal kits formulated to address specific health issues is in development.
Propel Kitchens Featured on St. Louis on the Air
Latest news
BUILDING OPPORTUNITY WITH PROPEL KITCHENS AT WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS
As the dining partner for Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) for the past 23 years, the Bon Appétit Management Company team has taken the University’s ethos to serve the greater good to heart, making it an integral part of how we approach operations and...
Cooking Up
Propel Kitchens is building health and wealth within the historically under-resourced community of the St. Louis Promise Zone by providing its members with hands-on training in food preparation and service and then setting them up with careers in the industry. As the...
How a commissary kitchen puts compassion and love first to make a healthier St. Louis
Chavi Jackson had not considered a career in culinary arts prior to working at Propel Kitchens. Since she started training in the commissary kitchen in Pagedale, Jackson has gained hands-on experience in kitchen operations, support to care for her young daughter and,...
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Support our mission
Your support makes it possible for us to create health and wealth with food. Our community kitchen runs on volunteers and donations to provide a platform for Black and Brown food producers and entrepreneurs.