FOOD DEPOT News:

SANTA FE — The Food Depot has made the difficult decision to discontinue its Santa Fe-based Kids Kitchen program, effective at the end of the 2022-2023 school year.

During its years of service, Kids Kitchen staff prepared hundreds of thousands of meals for students enrolled in the Santa Fe Public School’s 21st Century Program, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Santa Fe, and to other students across the county. Kids Kitchen will prepare their last meal June 8, 2023. All program partners have been notified of the closure.

This decision has not been made lightly. The primary reason for the closure is the conclusion of our residency at the central kitchen location where meals are prepared. Over the past nine months, The Food Depot has relentlessly evaluated other kitchen options across Santa Fe. Unfortunately, none are an adequate fit for the program’s unique needs and scope of work. Other approaches to securing a new kitchen would strain The Food Depot’s resources in ways that would be detrimental to the food bank’s overall mission and operations.

Our community must acknowledge the challenging times we face in the charitable food system. Increasing food costs, decreased SNAP benefits, and increasing demand for hunger relief services are straining the ability of food banks to provide for those in need. The Food Depot is no exception.

While the decision to close Kids Kitchen is difficult, it is not one that will be reversed. All resources dedicated to the program will be reallocated to strengthening The Food Depot’s core hunger-relief programs.

Although we will no longer be serving meals through the Kids Kitchen program, The Food Depot is committed to its primary mission of providing families access to nutritious food through our variety of other hunger-relief programs in Santa Fe County and across northern New Mexico.

Within Santa Fe Public Schools, we will continue to support and expand our network of school-based food pantries. We are also confident that the implementation of universal school meals, other nonprofit food programs, and other state level children’s feeding programs will fill the gap created by the loss of Kids Kitchen.  

The Food Depot honors the strong partnerships forged during Kids Kitchen’s years of operation and is grateful for the incredible work we have done to feed children in our community.