Today, October 15 2024, Taste Project announces it has officially served over 250,000 meals at Taste Community Restaurant!  This milestone is particularly unique because the restaurant operates without prices on its menu.

Taste Project’s operates a fresh and healthy pay-what-you-can restaurant where everyone in the community, regardless of financial means, can enjoy a fresh, healthy, high-quality meal, made from seasonal ingredients. The menu has no prices. Guests are simply asked to:

1. Pay what you can afford;
2. Pay what you would typically pay; or
3. Pay what you would typically pay, plus a little extra to help a neighbor in need.

Everyone dines together at Taste Community Restaurant.  An executive out for a business lunch dines alongside a single parent with her kids who is struggling to make ends meet.  Neither knows the other’s circumstances, yet all enjoy a healthy, nutritious meal.

“While it’s easy to count the number of meals we serve at Taste Community Restaurant, it’s harder to quantify the deeper changes we see in our community as a result,” says Jeff Williams, founder and chief executive officer.  “Every day I have a front row seat to see God at work in our community.  He works through our guests, our volunteers, and through those who financially support the work we do.”

Jennifer regularly receives a subsidized meal at Taste Community Restaurant, and recently she began volunteering with the organization several times a week.  “Thank you for letting me be a part of something like Taste,” says Jennifer, one of the many guests at Taste Community Restaurant.

Fortunately, there is ongoing research to quantify the deeper impact of Taste Community Restaurant.  Funded in part by Texas Health Resources, Dr. Borchers at Texas Christian University has discovered that the more someone dines at Taste Community Restaurant, the higher their sense of community and mental quality of life[1].  When folks feel like they belong, they can better manage stress, are physically healthier, have higher rates of resiliency, and live longer[2].

Living longer means more opportunities[3]; a critical need in the community Taste Project operates in.  Taste Community Restaurant exists in Fort Worth’s largest food desert where the life expectancy is the lowest in the state of Texas—12 years lower than the average Texan.

Taste Project’s Taste Community Restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch, and brunch six days per week.  Since COVID-19, the need for the services provided at Taste Community Restaurant has increased substantially.  In 2024, 78% of guests at Taste Community Restaurant received a free or subsidized meal—a 35% increase, resulting in the largest funding gap the organization has faced.

Now, more than ever, Taste Project is reliant on community support to help feed, educate, and serve our community.

You can help ensure Taste Project can serve another 250,000 meals at Taste Community Restaurant when you dine, do, and donate.  Your support is critical to the organization’s success, and your support will help more people ‘taste and see the Lord is good’.

Join Taste Project on its journey to provide the next 250,000 meals when you make, renew, or increase your monthly pledge…

To all of the staff, volunteers, dinners, and donors, thank you for helping Taste Project serve 250,000 meals at Taste Community Restaurant.  God loves to work though people.  Thank you for allowing God to use you to help people in our community ‘taste and see the Lord is good’.

About Taste Project
Taste Project is a 501(c)3 non-profit established to feed, educate, and serve our community so they may “…taste and see the Lord is good.” Psalm 34:8. We believe everyone should have access to healthy nutritious food. Our vision is to see our community become the solution to the challenges our community faces as it relates to hunger.  Our first project, Taste Community Restaurant at 1200 South Main Street in Fort Worth, focuses on healthy, quality meals made from fresh ingredients. Our menu has no prices. This is a give-and-take concept. We ask guests to do one of the following: 1) pay what you can afford, 2) pay what you would typically pay, or 3) pay what you would typically pay, plus a little extra.  In 2024, Taste Project will open its second Taste Community Restaurant location at 200 N. Cooper St. in Arlington.  To learn more, visit us at www.tasteproject.org or find us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

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[1] Dr. Lori Borchers. “Social Connection through a Pay-What-You-Can Café Model”.  Lifestyle Medicine Conference.  Poster Presentation October 29, 2024. https://www.lmconference.org/fsPopup.asp?PosterID=698235&mode=posterInfo

[2] Mayo Clinic.  “Is having a sense of belonging important”.  https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/is-having-a-sense-of-belonging-important.  Accessed October 14, 2024.

[3] World Health Organization.  “Aging and Health”.  Published October 1, 2024.  https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/ageing-and-health