CARE Chef Ambassadors Host Advocacy Dinner in Minneapolis

CARE Chef Ambassadors Spike Mendelsohn and Asha Gomez traveled to Minneapolis this week to raise awareness of the need for strong U.S. investments to combat global hunger. The duo hosted a dinner for more than two dozen influential community leaders and policymakers. Mendelsohn, of Washington D.C., and Gomez, of Atlanta, discussed their personal experiences with food as chefs and their experiences seeing CARE’s hunger-fighting work in action.  

“There’s been a chef revolution. We went from not being allowed to leave our kitchen to television shows and talk shows,” said Mendelsohn, who is known for his appearances on Bravo’s Top Chef. “The most important part of the revolution is right now as food policy advocates. We have a voice.”

More than 800 million people around the world do not have enough to eat. Mendelsohn and Gomez shared their experience traveling with the poverty-fighting organization CARE to Peru last year. During the trip, the chefs visited Ayacucho and Lima to see firsthand how U.S. investments are empowering farmers, mothers and families to end global hunger.

In Minneapolis, Mendelsohn and Gomez shared how the trip inspired them to become advocates for CARE. In Peru, the chefs saw the challenges that smallholder farmers face every day to grow strong crops, manage their land, and access nutritious food. They also saw the solutions that CARE and the U.S. government are creating on the ground.

Today, the chefs are working with CARE to advocate for effective U.S. policies in the fight against global hunger. Mendelsohn was on Capitol Hill last month to celebrate the introduction of the Global Food Security Act of 2015 (H.R. 1567), a bipartisan effort to combat global hunger and malnutrition.

“As a chef advocate, I am working with CARE to fight global hunger because I know how important food and nutrition security is for women, families and communities to thrive and live healthy, prosperous lives” said Gomez. “The Global Food Security Act of 2015 is a strong step in codifying U.S leadership around global food security.”

The dinner took place at The Bachelor Farmer, a Minnesota restaurant that supports local farmers and grows its own produce on a small rooftop farm.

Mendelsohn and Gomez encouraged the group to become citizen advocates and to create change by sharing their voice with policymakers. Both chefs will be on Capitol Hill during CARE’s National Conference in May to meet with policymakers and discuss the importance of U.S. leadership in global food security.

To learn more about how chefs are helping CARE in the fight against global hunger, visit: http://www.care.org/carechefs.

Both chefs are available for media interviews.

ABOUT CARE  Founded in 1945 with the creation of the CARE Package®, CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. CARE places special focus on working alongside poor girls and women because, equipped with the proper resources, they have the power to lift whole families and entire communities out of poverty.

Our six decades of experience show that when you empower a girl or woman, she becomes a catalyst, creating ripples of positive change that lift up everyone around her. That’s why girls and women are at the heart of CARE’s community-based efforts to improve education, health and economic opportunity for everyone. We also work with girls and women to promote social justice, respond to emergencies and confront hunger and climate change. Last year CARE worked in 84 countries and reached more than 83 million people around the world. To learn more, visit www.care.org.