Our Story

Faced with the COVID-19 pandemic, our neighbors highlighted a hunger and employment emergency. Chef Aziza Young, El Compadre Restaurant, and 215 People's Alliance responded to the community's growing needs and together they launched The People’s Kitchen of Philadelphia in March 2020.

Today, PKP continues to be operated out of the former home of El Compadre Restaurant in South Philadelphia. We are fighting for Philadelphia's food sovereignty. We believe in a just and fair food system where everyone has access to nutritious food, the land to produce food locally, and fair working conditions.  

The People's Kitchen of Philadelphia is a collaborative of chefs, students, and community members responding to our city’s chronic issues of poverty and food insecurity by growing and cooking free, delicious meals. Through our inclusive model and relationship to food, the People’s Kitchen invites people from different social positions and lived experiences to join in solidarity and build healthy, resilient, and just communities.

We are creating a people-centered, community-driven food movement anchored in trust that demonstrates the power of grassroots solutions and ancestral practices.