CENTENNIAL, Colo. — In a world of food waste, the nonprofit Philo's Kitchen is hoping to reduce what ends up in the garbage or landfill. The nonprofit takes perishable food that would otherwise go to waste and turns the ingredients into freezer meals, distributed to low-income families and individuals who rely on food banks.
"We are a food recovery and meal prep nonprofit that works with food banks to save as much of their perishable foods as we can so that we can turn it into full nutritious meals for families in need," Executive Director and founder Alex Demopoulous, said.
Alex runs the nonprofit with his wife, Aubrey. The two came up with the idea after working in low-income school districts.
"So, when COVID happened, we really started thinking, 'Are these kids getting food anywhere else now that they are not in school?' So that’s when we really started having a more serious conversation about that," Aubrey said.
The lightbulb moment came when Alex began working in a grocery store and saw the immense quantity of food that would spoil and end up in a dumpster.
"I’ve worked at a couple grocery stores and restaurants and discovered this world of food waste that most people are familiar with but not really understanding it until you see it firsthand," Alex said. "It’s one of those things that is known, that it exists, but it really is truly shocking to see it up close and personal."
Alex has a partnership with Fern Warehouse and Pantry, a host warehouse that brings in food. From there, it can get distributed to other nonprofits, food banks and in their case, Philo's Kitchen. They will then supplement, through donations and funding, with nonperishables like rice and pasta to complete the meal.
"We believe in this because we believe it is a basic human right to have access to food and no person should go hungry when there is an abundance of food waste happening," Aubrey said. "Especially now that I am a newer mom, I just can’t imagine families with children or even without children, but really now it hits me in my heart strings, families with kids that they are not getting these meals, and this food is just getting thrown out."
On a busy week, they will try to take about 200 pounds of food and turn it into roughly 100 meals. They give the meals to food banks to distribute to their clients.
"A lot of the families that we see are multiple households in a family, so they each have their own shelf in the refrigerator," Joyce Newfield, the executive director of Community Ministry of Southwest Denver, said. "And so, they can't store like a whole zucchini or a whole chicken or whatever it is, makes a big difference because they have food then when they need it right now."
Newfield will distribute meals when they are available.
Newfield said the need continues to grow after the pandemic. During the pandemic, the team saw 13,000 people throughout the year. During the first six months of 2024, they saw more than 20,000 people. They'll more than likely double what they saw during 2020.
"We thought COVID was bad, but the need is greater now," Newfield said. "And it's because the cost of living is higher, the cost of food is higher. It’s just hard to live, especially in the Denver metro area with the cost of everything, so people are becoming more and more dependent on food banks to just supplement what they can afford to buy."
Philo's Kitchen said they are still a small team while they continue to grow funding and their volunteer base.