Two Chicago Chefs Find New Meaning in 'Community' While Helping Families Facing Food Insecurity During COVID-19

Meet the Chefs

Latrice McArthur - Chef and Founder of Wellness with Bella
“I was working as a private chef when Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative asked chefs to go into schools and teach children about the importance of nutrition. I thought that I would volunteer for a day or two...but after spending time with the kids, I saw that there was a tremendous need to provide kids with cooking skills...I quickly realized that I wanted to impact as many children as possible, so I created Wellness with Bella to encompass a more holistic approach to wellness for our students.”

Cedric Harden - Executive Chef at River Roast in Chicago
“When I was younger, I would help my mom make dinner and my sister and I began to play ‘restaurant.’ We would cook our version of a ‘four-course meal’ for my parents every Friday night: applesauce, salad, spaghetti and, for dessert, a Rice Krispies treat! That sparked my interest in cooking, which led to me working in restaurants in high school. I fell in love with the restaurant industry, so I decided to move to Chicago to go to hospitality and culinary school. I knew then that I wanted to be a chef. What I love most about being a chef is, by far, the people. Creating great tasting food for people to enjoy is my passion, it’s what continues to fuel my journey.”

On Partnering During COVID-19 to Help a Community in Need

COVID-19 has created so many challenges for local businesses and communities, but it has also inspired moments of grace and connection. We recently sat down with Chicago-based chefs Cedric Harden and Latrice McArthur to learn more about how they teamed up to provide meals to over 900 Chicago Public School kids and their families who were facing pandemic- related food insecurity.

As the Executive Chef at top Chicago restaurant River Roast, Cedric Harden is passionate about creating incredible meals. But when COVID-19 hit the city, he learned that he could channel his passion for cooking into a much needed service for his community. “As a chef, I do a lot of volunteering for events and organizations, which usually involves donating food. But this time was different; it opened my eyes to community need in a new way.” The time Cedric is referring to is late spring 2020—a time in which the world was suddenly facing the unforeseen crisis of COVID-19. It was during this time that Cedric was approached by fellow chef and founder of Wellness with Bella, Latrice McArthur. She was seeking culinary partners to help bring meal assistance to Chicago Public School students and their families, many of whom were facing food insecurity for the first time because of school closings.

“Working with Latrice to provide meals to families who were facing food insecurity touched my heart in a different way. It made me realize that I need to rethink how I connect with the community,” Cedric said. This project made him aware that there are so many “kids and families without food, and many of them are living in neighborhoods I wouldn't have connected with food insecurity.”

For chef Latrice McArthur, the pandemic impacted her work as well. She quickly pivoted the focus of her nonprofit, Wellness with Bella, from teaching students healthy cooking to providing her students and their families with healthy meals. “Our only goal is to make a real impact in the lives of our students,” Latrice explained. “Prior to COVID, we hosted hands-on cooking classes to provide our students with access to healthy meals that they learn to prepare themselves. Post COVID, while delivering pandemic meal relief, we witnessed firsthand the devastating effects indigence imposed on families.”

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work

With the help of Cedric and his team at River Roast, Latrice was able to provide “healthy and delicious” meals to over 900 CPS students and their families. She is quick to state that Cedric’s partnership made all the difference. “Once schools closed due to COVID, our children were missing school-provided meals and going to bed hungry. They did not have options for evening or weekend meals. The need was immediate and having a partner like Chef Cedric—someone who understood this—meant that we were able to rapidly meet that need.” Latrice appreciated the fact that “Cedric and his team took great care to craft delicious menus for our families. Whatever we needed, he readily provided. He understands that just because people are poor, that does not mean they do not deserve quality food on a daily basis.”

For Cedric, partnering with Latrice opened his eyes to an invisible need within his community. “Helping Latrice made me aware that there are so many kids and families without food. Prior to this experience, I wasn’t aware of how big a problem food insecurity is in our communities. And if I can help by doing what I love to do, which is cook, count me in.”

For more information on Wellness with Bella, visit www.wellnesswithbella.org.

Thank you, Latrice & Cedric!

Read more from our Chef to Chef series with Paola Velez and Cheryl Day, and Omar Tate and Cybille St. Aude-Tate.