Local chef feeds 300 families each week

A Single Bite addresses local hunger

By Savannah Chaboty and Zoey McGee | Manor Ink

Liberty, NY – Recently Manor Ink conducted an interview with Head Chef and Culinary Director Jonathan Martinez from A Single Bite, a nonprofit organization founded in 2019 by Foster Supply Hospitality with the primary goal of feeding and educating local families with locally-sourced food.

Martinez brings a wealth of both knowledge and experience to A Single Bite. He received his education at SUNY Sullivan, is known to be an award-winning chef, has 20 plus years of culinary experience and, as if that weren’t impressive enough, is a combat veteran. Martinez is a perfect fit for taking command of the 5,000-square-foot facility located in Liberty. Martinez acknowledged that the newly-built A Single Bite kitchen greatly helps both himself and his sous chef prepare all of the weekly meals that the organization distributes.

It is obvious that Martinez feels right at home in the gleaming and spotless kitchen. He happily gave the Ink a tour of the well-appointed stainless steel food prep and cooking area, gigantic walk-in refrigerator and cooler, as well as the orderly food storage areas.

Changing lives through palates

Currently, Martinez and his team provide nutritious meals for almost three hundred families, which translates into over 820 nutritious meals being prepped, cooked and delivered weekly. This huge undertaking is accomplished by Martinez and staff due to their extensive skillset, which includes organizing, planning and creatively serving up a variety of dishes for their weekly menus. Martinez feels you can change someone’s life through opening up their palate – getting them to just take “a single bite.”

“It is really awesome to be able to contribute to others through food,” the chef said. He feels that no one should go hungry and says “being able to give back, I enjoy every day.” Martinez explained that families in local school districts including Tri-Valley, Sullivan West, Livingston Manor, Roscoe, Monticello, Fallsburg and Liberty receive real food made with local ingredients. “We split school districts up in the different sections of the week for our volunteers to package meals, and once they package them, they actually bring them right to the home of the families in need,” Martinez said.

Distribution a team effort

As the chef spoke, volunteers were busy gathering bagged meals, wheeling carts and bustling through the kitchen area. Martinez explained how a volunteer will take the bags associated with their delivery route. “It is just a constant, constant machine,” he said, referring to the entire process of getting healthy meals to families with children. Any family with kids who may be in need is able to sign up on A Single Bite’s website at asinglebite.org to get fresh, local food delivered to them.

Head Chef Martinez is the real Sullivan County deal – he grew up in Sullivan County and developed an interest in cooking at the age of 14. He worked in the food service industry locally in a variety of capacities, attended college at SUNY Sullivan and now gives back to the county’s communities with his gift of culinary expertise. Jonathan Martinez and all who are involved with A Single Bite give Sullivan County something to be proud of and thankful for.

New OC food center to serve region

Montgomery, NY – The Regional Food Bank Hudson Valley opened its bay doors to volunteers and partner agencies for the first time at its new 50,000-square-foot distribution center in the Town of Montgomery, Orange County. The state-of-the-art facility will expand the organization’s capacity for food storage and distribution to better meet the growing demand for food assistance in the Hudson Valley.

“Today marks a tremendous milestone in our ultimate goal of serving more of our neighbors in need in the Hudson Valley,” said Tom Nardacci, CEO Regional Food Bank. “This project has been years in the making, tens of thousands of volunteer hours have been invested, and millions of dollars have been raised and spent, with a common goal of helping our neighbors in need. This new distribution center will help us reach more individuals and families more efficiently, and at a lower cost.”

The Regional Food Bank is a nonprofit organization that collects donated food from the food industry and distributes it to more than 1,000 partners feeding families in need in 23 counties of northeastern New York. The food provided by the Regional Food Bank helps to feed over 350,000 people each month. In 2023, the Food Bank distributed 48 million pounds of food, enough for 40 million meals. The Regional Food Bank is a member of Feeding America, the national network of food banks.

The new distribution center will provide the Regional Food Bank with four times more storage for dry, cold and frozen foods and to purchase more food from local growers and producers through the Nourish New York program to distribute to more than 400 partnering agencies in the Hudson Valley and to local families. Direct access to highways will allow for easier access for partnering agencies to pick up food which is then delivered at the community level.

“This facility has been a dream for the Regional Food Bank for years,” said Felicia Kalan, executive vice president for Hudson Valley. For more information about the Regional Food Bank, visit their website at regionalfoodbank.net.