On Nov. 6, the San Francisco non-profit La Cocina will host their biannual storytelling event F&B Voices from the Kitchen: Migration at Brava Theater. La Cocina’s event intends to amplify stories from the voices we may often dismiss.
La Cocina, meaning “the kitchen” in Spanish, is a fitting name for the San Francisco based non-profit, as they grew from the Latin influenced San Francisco’s Mission District. Inspired by the Mission neighborhood, La Cocina strives to emulate the way small and informal businesses support the community.
La Cocina focuses to recognize food businesses that are not yet legally established and that are owned by women of color and immigrant women. La Cocina understands that establishing these types of businesses would allow for working-class women of color and immigrant women to have the opportunity of creating a pathway to economic freedom while allowing them to move away from wage-labor and encouraging them to hire within their local community.
In doing so, La Cocina’s primary focus is to support communities of women of color and immigrant communities by providing the necessary resources to start a business. Their vision is for entrepreneurs to gain financial security by doing what they love while creating inclusive, innovate and economic landscapes.
The non-profit’s website states, “La Cocina was born out of a belief that a community of talented natural entrepreneurs, given the right resources, can create self-sufficient business that benefit themselves, their families, their community, and the whole city. The food that has come out of our kitchen since 2005 reflects that aspiration and, quite simply, tastes amazing.”.
La Cocina’s vision is to increase inclusivity in the food industry while solving problems of equity in ownership for women, immigrants and people of color.
Presented by Whole Foods Market, the non-profit will host the multisensory event, F&B Voices from the Kitchen: Migration, to support La Cocina. The event will start at 6 p.m. and go until 8:30 p.m. with tickets are for sale for $45 to $55. The proceeds raised will be going directly to La Cocina. This project gives the opportunity for cooks and those associated in kitchen spaces to tell their story. This event occurs twice a year and will focus on the theme of migration around food and drinks, which will also be included during the event.
The night will include several notable performers such as former writer and editor for East Bay Express, Azucena Rasilla and Pulitzer-prize finalist Roz Bentley. Dr. Howard Conyers will also be performing at the event. Conyers is a co-director of a digital series called “Nourish” on PBS that explores the connections of food, culture and science in the American South.
As La Cocina strives to improve the lives and communities of women of color and women immigrants, they will also showcase the beauty of diversity of kitchen spaces to support their mission further.
If you don’t have any plans on Nov. 6, check out and support the non-profit La Cocina storytelling event: F&B Voices from the Kitchen: Migration at Brava theater.
