Restaurants Pitch In To Fight Food Insecurity During Annual ‘Restaurant Week’

With September being Huger Action Month, it can bring a serious issue affecting millions like food insecurity up to the forefront.

This week marks Tulsa's 15th annual Restaurant Week when local restaurants are offering special menus to support Food for Kids at the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma.       

"We love this time of year, it's hunger action month the community comes together, our local restaurants come together to fight hunger, it's a win-win for everybody," Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma chief culinary officer/executive chef Jeff Marlow said.

Restaurant Week is already underway. Tulsa area restaurants are offering specialty menus to support a good cause.

All special menus served during Restaurant Week include an automatic donation to the Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, which will be matched up to $25,000 by the George Kaiser Family Foundation. 

Marlow said food insecurity is a serious situation in Oklahoma.  

"One in five children go to bed hungry here in the state of Oklahoma, and that's not a good number,” Marlow said.

The startling statistic illustrates why support from the community is important. To give an idea of its impact, a $1 donation could provide four meals for kids.  

It’s also an opportunity to support local businesses that had a tough year-plus facing the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I think it's important that we're able to go out now in the community, supporting these restaurants that suffered,” Marlow said. “The ones that made it through it. But then, the restaurants are also wanting to give back to a community that helped them.”  

The Local Bison is one of the participating restaurants in Restaurant Week.

“We’re a fairly new restaurant, just over two years old,” chef Nick Andoe said. “With the pandemic, we just kind of, you know, it’s just been kind of an odd year.”

Andoe said he wants to use this week to put the restaurant on the map and also former stronger connections in the community.  

“It’s one of those things you sit around the table and all of your problems go away for that brief time and that’s the idea,” Andoe said. “Let’s get our community together. Do it for the best cause possible.”

The food bank hopes food insecurity becomes something of the past, but until then, they’re asking for support.  

"If you're led and you feel that you want to go out and support this, bon appétit,” Marlow said.

For more information and a full list of participating restaurants, you can click here.  

You can also connect with the week here.