We proudly serve nutritious meals to our communities today, and we also want them to be healthy and safe in the future. Grounded in our core values — Client-Centered Care, Stewardship, Sustainability, and an uncompromising commitment to food quality through what we call “Food First”— our responsibility extends beyond serving a good, hot meal. We are proud to contribute to an ecosystem where healthcare dollars strengthen regional economies, reduce environmental impact, and deliver dignified nutrition for all.
We are not just serving our region; we want to join others in leading a path toward sustainable stewardship.
Stewardship is the responsible management of resources and finances that have been entrusted to our care. We take our role as caretakers seriously, which means using our resources wisely today, as well as for future generations. We can’t shirk one and honor the other. It’s our responsibility to take care of our clients and the environments in which they live.
Our entrepreneurship mindset leads to opportunities. We hope this model becomes the norm.
We would like to challenge the scarcity mindset and shift the focus toward what is possible. Operating with a scarcity mindset has the potential to undercut a nonprofit’s mission. We can be judicious with resources without skimping on quality. In fact, we’ve found being a good steward to the earth is not more expensive. We don’t waste money; we are holistic and intentional about the way we work and the approach we take. Our San Francisco Headquarters in the Tenderloin neighborhood is a waypoint: a sustainable hub for excellence and care. There is a growing need for medically tailored meals in our communities, and we must be creative and innovative to deliver.
With all this in mind, there are three primary ways we are focused on sustainability here at Project Open Hand. Our approach is phased, and we’re sharing our learnings to help other organizations do this, too. These are our commitments:
- We engage local food systems.
We get as much of our food as possible from California’s small and mid-sized farms. Since we prepare over a million meals per year, including meals made with groceries from our grocery boxes, this is a big deal. This creates a stronger, more predictable market for food that’s grown locally. It also engages farmers as long-term partners in community health. We are proud to prioritize and strengthen regional food infrastructure while expanding access to fresh, local food to those who need it most. When the medically tailored meals (MTM) and groceries (MTG) we distribute to clients living with chronic illness are fresher and more nutrient-rich, it supports better health outcomes. Last year, we exceeded our own target, with more than 25% of our food purchased from producers within 250 miles. We’re not just serving clients, we’re serving the whole food system.
- We use green energy.
We have a lot of operational energy needs, from freezer space for food storage to utilities to the vehicles that help distribute our meals. We also know that there are high rates of asthma in our urban neighborhood, the Tenderloin, and our neighbors – those who spend the most time here – are disproportionally affected by pollution and poor air quality.
Our commitment is to be a good neighbor.
To that end, we recently purchased our first electric vehicle, and we're planning to convert the majority of our vehicle fleet to be electric, as well. As early adopters in renewable energy, we’ve had solar panels generating energy on the roof of our headquarters for years. This enables us to decrease our monthly utility costs.
We will continue to invest in these innovations because we know they also help us serve our ultimate goal: better health and well-being for residents of our community.
- We center plant-based protein in our medically tailored meals and groceries.
The science is clear: plant-forward meals can reduce disease and environmental impact. That’s why we have increased the use of plant-based proteins within MTM/MTG programs. When we do use meat in our menus, we’re using less of it. Reduced reliance on animal products lowers our environmental footprint, including greenhouse gas emissions. Pork and beef as a proportion of total animal product spending decreased from 51.9% to 19.9% in the last three years, and the average amount of meat per meal decreased from 3.3 oz to 2.5 oz. We’re also delighted to report that it’s not cost prohibitive. We're not spending more on beans than we were spending on beef; yet, the impact on the environment extends beyond our balance sheet. We have maintained clinical appropriateness and client acceptance. Some examples of these delicious meals include Golden Cashew Curry, Red Beans and Rice, Warm Seasonal Grain Salad, and Chicken & Tofu Chop Suey. Over the last three years, our plant-forward menu strategies saved more than 25.6 million pounds of CO2 in net emissions.
Bottom Line:
For us, sustainable stewardship is mission critical.
Just like it’s our responsibility to provide quality nutrition for our clients, it's also our responsibility to think long term about how we impact our community.
Like other leading healthcare organizations, we have a quadruple aim to enhance client experience, improve population health, reduce healthcare costs, and support provider well-being. In working toward this, we are also caring for future generations who aren’t even our clients, all while spending the same amount of money or less. This way, everyone wins.