Actor Jake Gyllenhaal had some big messages for DC Tuesday night.
“The thing that’s missing in the food world in terms of making sure we can effect change is to take factions of people trying to do good and bring them together; that’s what DC Greens does,” Jake told the crowd at a fundraiser for the organization Tuesday at Union Market’s Dock 5. We snapped him mingling with the crowd of about 250. DC Greens makes significant headway in food access, education and policy in the District. “I live in New York City, but I’m envious of this because I think you all have an opportunity here to create a model for every city in the United States,” Jake added.
Jake is a longtime friend of DC Greens executive director Lauren Shweder Biel. We snapped her with two of the evening’s chefs—The Red Hen’s Mike Friedman and Jeremiah Langhorne of the forthcoming Shaw restaurant The Dabney. They were joined by Good Stuff Eatery’s Spike Mendelsohn, Buttercream Bakeshop’s Tiffany MacIsaac, minibar’s Rubén García and Mike Isabella Concept’s Mike Isabella, among others. Guests sipped on Early Mountain wine while enjoying farm fresh dishes like strawberry gazpacho and Meyer lemon chili spaghetti chitarra.
The evening brought in more than $200k to support DC Greens initiatives such as the Fruit and Vegetable Prescription Program that enables at-risk DC residents to obtain prescriptions for fresh produce from doctors, which can be filled at area farmers markets dubbed “farmacies.” Since the program’s inception in 2012, 200-plus people have benefited. Learn more about the work of DC Greens.
