Earth Day is right around the corner, and to celebrate, 12th Street Catering is continuing a partnership with local nonprofit Urban Creators to host a virtual cooking class. The culinary-clad event will take place on April 21 at 6:30 p.m., with all ingredients being provided by Urban Creators’ North Philadelphia farm to create an entirely vegetarian menu.
Both organizations began to work together in the middle of the pandemic last year. In June 2020, 12th Street Catering began preparing meals to be distributed at Urban Creators farm, and since their partnership start date, the number of meals accumulated has reached 70,000. On top of the work in conjunction with the North Philly farm, 12th Street also implemented a marketplace to provide fresh produce, hot meals, PPE, books, and other essentials to the North Philadelphia community every week. The meals were then distributed at Life Do Grow, Urban Creators’ Neighborhood Creative Commons at North 11th and Dauphin Streets, home to an urban farm, public park, community marketplace, and new greenhouse and water filtration system.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, 12th Street Catering also stayed true to its mission by providing fresh and sustainable meals to those who need it most: Healthcare workers, first responders, and their families. 12th Street Catering teamed up with United States Liability Insurance Group (USLI) for their cause to provide free meals to local healthcare workers to give thanks for their hard work during the pandemic. Workers began preparing, cooking and delivering hundreds of meals to both Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and Temple University Hospital to help achieve the goal of providing relief to first responders.
Urban Creators has also taken this time during the pandemic to shift their own offerings to better serve the community, but they’ve been making a mark on Philly since their inception. According to a release, by transforming three acres of vacant land in North Philadelphia into urban gardens and a home for the community, Urban Creators has cultivated opportunities for countless youth, neighbors, and students, contributing to a 40% decrease in Part 1 violent crime in the area since 2010. The urban farm emphasizes workforce development within the community and incubates small businesses from local vendors, and also serves as a location where children participating in virtual schooling can enjoy complimentary breakfast with their families while also learning about farming and agriculture.
Philadelphians can now have their own hand in helping to support the community and environment during the pandemic with the cooking class, led by Chef Adam DeLosso. The class, which will be held live via zoom comes with a kit for two people filled with individually packaged and labeled ingredients. The Earth Day Cooking Class menu consists of: Impossible “Meat Balls” with orzo risotto and sun-dried tomato basil sauce; asparagus ribbon toast with black pepper whipped ricotta, toasted sunflower seeds and balsamic honey; harissa roasted heirloom carrots with crispy fava beans and tahini mint labneh; and a lemon elderflower cake with an edible floral garnish from their in-house pastry kitchen.
The hour-long course comes out to be $100 (delivery is not included in the cost of the class.) However, the release states that 12th Street Catering offers onsite pickup (free), local delivery, and priority overnight shipping via FedEx with boxes packaged in thermal (and sustainable) TempGuard liners and gel ice bricks to ensure you receive the highest quality, even in the comfort of your home.
12th Street Catering also offers a variety of other menus for private group Virtual Cooking Classes available by reservation. Those who are interested can contact info@12stcatering.com or call 215-386-8595 to learn more.
To donate or volunteer with Urban Creators, visit urbancreators.org. To register for the class, visit 12th-street-catering-virtual-cooking-classes.square.site or call 215-386-8595. The deadline to register is Tuesday, April 13.
