With grocery bills climbing and last year’s suspension of SNAP benefits still fresh in memory, Philabundance is making a difference in the community’s health. Its demonstration kitchen at 224 North 10th Street shared a cooking event on Wednesday afternoon, August 26, 2026, to show neighbors how to turn a bag of fresh ingredients into a nutritious meal for less than the cost of a drive-thru.
The well-attended event, held with the support of State Senator Sharif Street, comes as U.S. grocery prices have risen roughly 5 to 6 percent since 2024, according to the USDA Economic Research Service, with staples such as beef climbing far faster. Nutritionists urge families to cook at home, but for many households the question is how to make the healthiest meals for the most reasonable price.
“Learning how to prepare nutritious meals helps to improve our quality of life,” Street told the gathering. “It is part of our overall wellness plan,” Senator Street said. “he and his wife, April, have five children, and taking a family of seven out to eat has become very expensive. When they were starting out, he explained, they lived on a strict budget, and cooking healthy meals at home was not a choice but a must.
Philabundance, which provides 44 million meals a year across nine counties in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, was born from that same instinct. In 1984, Pamela Rainey Lawler saw edible food going to waste while her neighbors went hungry and began rescuing surplus from restaurants, caterers, and farmers out of the back of her Subaru. Today, CEO Loree Jones Brown speaks proudly of the Philabundance Community Kitchen’s training program, which prepares people on public assistance for restaurant careers and places them in internships that lead to permanent jobs.
At the event, the sizzle of chicken in the pan and the sharp, bright scent of lime filled the demonstration kitchen. Chef Mark Brown Goldberg, director of the Philabundance Community Kitchen, led the session alongside executive chef Jennifer Jones, with the timing of a stand-up comedian, showing the crowd how to sharpen a knife and how to cut vegetables and fruit quickly and efficiently.
The dish was chicken fiesta tacos, topped with a salsa of red onion, lime, cilantro, jalapeños, mango, and avocado, laid over a flour tortilla on the plate. Chef Mark fried boneless chicken cubes until golden and assembled the tacos as the attendees leaned in like students at the front of a class.
Yolanda Smith of Brewerytown went back for seconds. “Mark Brown is brilliant, funny, and well-educated about food,” Smith said. “The food was delicious, and I even asked for a second plate. The spice was perfect, and I loved the mangoes.” When the program ended, each participant left with a bag containing the recipe and all the ingredients needed to make the dish at home, plus one more thing. “And in case you’re not ready to cook tonight,” Chef Mark said, “we are sending you home with a frozen version of the meal.” “ I’ll be back for the next class in October,» said Yolanda as she happily left the building with her newfound knowledge and the ingredients to remake Chef Mark Brown’s recipe.