What’s Next for the Working Food Kitchen

After seven years of nourishing connection, creativity, and entrepreneurship, Working Food is preparing for a big transition. When our lease ends in 2027, we’ll step away from running a full-time commissary kitchen and move toward building an educational farm campus—a shift that better reflects our mission, our team’s strengths, and our long-term vision.

This transition will be steady, thoughtful, and full of support. Over the next 18 months, there will be no changes to services for our current kitchen clients.

Since opening our kitchen in 2018, we’ve supported over 100 food entrepreneurs, hosted hands-on classes for youth and community members, and created a welcoming space for food trucks, bakers, caterers, farmers, and other producers. We’re proud of what this space has made possible, and we are deeply grateful to everyone who has cooked here, built community here, and grown a business here.

We built this kitchen to help make local food more accessible by creating space to prepare and share it. But the need has grown far beyond what this small kitchen can hold. For the last 15 months, we’ve operated at full capacity, with more than 120 people on our waitlist. 

That tells us something important: the need is real—and it’s time to think bigger. Instead of limiting growth or stretching our small nonprofit too thin, we’re choosing to step aside and step up. Over the next 18 months, we are committed to:

• Working with partners to create kitchen models that fit different business needs

• Supporting the development of new commercial kitchens to meet growing demand

• Helping build real support systems for food entrepreneurs, including business planning, financial guidance, marketing, and scaling

• Sharing everything we’ve learned to help guide what comes next

This work is already in motion. We’re partnering with local government, organizations, and small business leaders to explore and expand kitchen options so that more food entrepreneurs can succeed with the support they need. We’ll also work closely with our current kitchen users to make sure new spaces and services reflect their real experiences and goals.

While our kitchen will close, our vision remains deeply rooted in community-powered solutions. This transition makes room for new leadership and stronger infrastructure, exactly what our local food entrepreneurs need and deserve. It also gives us space to focus on what we do best: supporting a just, connected local food system from the ground up.

We’re bringing everything we’ve learned to new efforts, including the launch of an online farmers market in early 2026. This platform will help local farmers and food businesses connect with more customers and make it easier for our community to buy fresh and prepared local food. It’s one more way we’re staying connected to the entrepreneurs we care deeply about, in a way that supports our mission and our long-term sustainability.

We’re tending this transition with care. We know this change will bring uncertainty for those who’ve relied on the kitchen, and we are committed to walking alongside them every step of the way. At Working Food, connection is at the heart of everything we do.  We are, and always will be, committed to building a thriving local food system where every part—from seeds to small businesses—is vital, valued, and supported.

If you are interested in opening a shared commercial kitchen or would like to welcome clients into your existing, permitted space we’d love to hear from you. Please fill out our interest form below and we’ll be in touch. 

Thank you for being part of this journey. We’re grateful to keep growing with you.