María Ortiz, India Nance
Kevin McVey
David Zamudio
Aaron Joseph
Mark Demshak, Paul Sanchez
Leah Fishman, India Nance, Angie Risheberger
Rogelio Salvador de Jesus
Juan Perez, Inocencio Peralta
Maria Ortiz and Family, Mile Montezuma and family
Mark Demshak, Irena Stein. Paul Sanchez and Anna O’Neill
Karem Barragan, Roberto Aguilera
Jacqueline Flores
Two Boots Farm
Chyno
Mark Demshak and Emmy Demshak
Elisa Murillo, muralist
Argenis Calderón
Maritza Arreaza and grand daughter
Our kitchen during the pandemic in 2020: the Alkimiah venture
Immediately after being forced to close our catering and restaurant activities due to the pandemic, Alma Cocina Latina decided to join hands with Mera Kitchen Collective and to turn our kitchen towards feeding our neighbors in need in Baltimore. The pandemic exacerbated the inequities faced by individuals in not only Baltimore, but our state, the nation and the world. We quickly jumped to action with an initiative to bring fresh, delicious and healthy meals to Baltimore residents. On March 13th, we announced our Community Meals initiative, on March 14th, we received requests from community leaders, and by March 16th, when stay-at-home orders were in place, we were up and running. As of November 2021, we cooked and served over 150,000 delicious, balanced, and healthy meals funded through Jose Andres’s World Central Kitchen initiative and many organizations in the city, as well as aMera Kitchen Collective’s GoFundMe. A l k i m i a h provided healthy, nutritious and balanced meals, while bridging food policy and communities together over shared meals. We were the translation of food policies in action, the mise-en-place of our collective conversations trying to make good for people and good for the planet. Alkimiah means “alchemy” in Arabic and Spanish.
Jake Hack
Beej Flamholz
Iman Alshehab and Cristina Ordoñez
Photography by Irena Stein www.irenasteinphotography.com Book design Diana Rangel and Irena Stein
2020 Alma Cocina Latina