Update from Woke Foods

Woke Foods is  currently picking up the pieces from the impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic. We mostly share on Instagram and are not the most consistent, which we are working on! Still, we give ourselves GRACE, recognizing that the pandemic has been brutal on our community and spirit as we continue putting in the work amidst the chaos and constant uncertainty.

Keep reading if you want to catch up with us… (We also did an IG/FB Live catch-up session recently! Watch the replay HERE.)

When COVID-19 first hit we were forced to close our catering operations and we pivoted to focus on providing emergency plant-based meals in The Bronx in partnership with the North Bronx Collective. Later on, we also partnered with the South Bronx Food Hub Collective to distribute produce bags and offer plant-based cooking demos throughout the South Bronx. 

Through community donations and government assistance we were able to pay our worker-owners and contractors for a year as well as offer virtual food growing and plant-based cooking workshops. 

Thank you so much to all of you who donated to us <3 

In the Fall of 2020, we launched a virtual course called Earth Lab! It was one of our big milestones and it left such a sweet impact on us as a team. 

Earth Lab was an 8-week course where we led a cohort of 10 BIPoC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) from North America and the Caribbean in practice of being in right & reciprocal relationship to the Earth by

learning how to begin growing their own food 

cooking plant-based meals  

understanding plant-based nutrition 

creating a composting system and habit

upcycling clothes/materials 

introducing zero-waste ways of living

The sessions supported participants in understanding their relationship to Earth through a micro/community level and a macro/systemic level using a racial equity and food & land sovereignty framework.

Where we are headed…

Earlier this year, our founder Ysanet, was able to expand Woke Foods to our motherland in the Dominican Republic and opened a restaurant and food justice space in partnership with the local NGO Cabarete Sostenible in the north coast of the island — check it out HERE!

Meanwhile in NYC, we are re-calibrating and observing how to meet the current needs of our community with our offerings. At this time we are NOT doing catering. Our current plans include hosting fundraiser events. Our first one will be a hybrid political educational event titled The Politics in Our Food / La Politica en Nuestra Comida on Thursday, July 22nd. Learn more and register HERE.

In August, we are planning on hosting a dinner experience in New York City to celebrate the Dominican Republic’s Dia de Restauración and the U.S. Black August. In addition, a percentage of our sales will be donated to Barrio Alante — a political organizing grassroots org run by Black Dominican youth in Santo Domingo. Get on the waitlist HERE <3

If you want to stay updated on more Woke Foods happenings/offerings/changes, you can sign up for our newsletter here.

And if you made it to the end, thank you for reading!

Ysanet Batista

Ysanet Batista is a queer Black-Dominican woman, born in Harlem, NY and raised in between the Dominican Republic and Hialeah, FL. Ysanet graduated from Johnson & Wales University in Providence, RI and spent a couple of years working in major hotel companies before transitioning to community based work. When she is not cooking or developing Woke Foods, Ysanet is helping other people start their own worker-cooperative businesses at Green Worker Cooperatives at their Coop Academy. Her passions include holistic cooking, farming, writing, and community organizing. She is inspired by the power and magic of Black and Brown people, the ocean, and the Now. She is currently a student at Farm School NYC earning a certificate in Urban Agriculture.