Caroline Gutman

Photographer

Tired of waiting on the government, hungry Americans turn to one another for help

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Focus: Photographer, Photojournalist, Journalist, Writer, Researcher, Reporter, Politics, Travel, Environment, History, Photo Assistant, Documentary, News, Video, Photography, Domestic, Foreign, Portraiture, Stock, Lifestyle, Conceptual, Culture, Foreign Desk, Arts & Culture, Journalist Investigative, Freelance, Civil Rights and Social Inequality, Humanitarian, Assignments, Commercial, Entrepreneur, Fellow, Consultant, International, Creative Professional, Editorial, Photo Shoots, Editing, Storyteller, Visual Artist, Climate, Digital Journalism, Photo Coordinator, Feature Stories, Environmental Stories, International Stories, National Park stories, Still Photographer, US Politics, Portrait Photography, Reportage

Clients: The Guardian, The New York Times The Washington Post

Medium Rare chef and owner Mark...e their model to survive."

Medium Rare chef and owner Mark Bucher, 52, stands for a portrait outside Medium Rare in Bethesda, MD on Wednesday, November 25th, 2020. "This isn't a one-and-done model," says Bucher. "The restaurant business has changed forever and will need to change their model to survive."

Marina Ivanova, 45 and Assistan...gerators across Washington, DC.

Marina Ivanova, 45 and Assistant General Manager of Medium Rare, restocks a refrigerator with free meals at Columbia Heights Community Center in Washington, DC on Wednesday, November 25th, 2020. Medium Rare chef and owner Mark Bucher's organization Feed the Fridges provides free daily restaurant-made meals in public refrigerators across Washington, DC.

Emerson Zuniga, 19, prepares Th...iatives across DC and Maryland.

Emerson Zuniga, 19, prepares Thanksgiving meals for delivery at Medium Rare in Bethesda, MD on Wednesday, November 25th, 2020. Medium Rare chef and owner Mark Bucher runs several free meal initiatives across DC and Maryland.

Bags with individual Thanksgivi...ted 3,000 free meals last week.

Bags with individual Thanksgiving meals ready for delivery at Medium Rare in Bethesda, MD on Wednesday, November 25th, 2020. Medium Rare distributed 3,000 free meals last week.

Marina Ivanova, 45 and Assistant General Manager of Medium Rare, carries meals into Columbia Heights Community Center in Washington, DC on Wednesday, November 25th, 2020. Medium Rare chef and owner Mark Bucher's organization Feed the Fridges provides free daily restaurant-made meals in public refrigerators across Washington, DC.

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Public Project

Tired of waiting on the government, hungry Americans turn to one another for help

Copyright Caroline Gutman 2024

Updated Jan 2021

Location Washington, DC

Topics Business, Community, Editorial, Education, Hunger, Media, Photography, Photojournalism, Poverty, Restaurants, School meals, School/College, Senior Citizens, Volunteering, Youth

For the Washington Post.

Early in the pandemic, Mark Bucher, chef and owner of DC-area Medium Rare restaurants, learned that children (and their families) who normally rely on school meals had been going hungry. â£
â£
He set out to change that, and save restaurants in the process. Bucher founded Feed the Fridge which has installed 10 public refrigerators across the city so far. They are restocked daily with 500 “dignified lunches, no beans and rice, no baloney,” says Bucher.â£
â£
Feed the Fridge, which is backed by the Washington Nationals, pays restaurants to prepare the meals. “D.C. restaurants are in real trouble. The hospitality business is in real trouble. This is a program that solves that problem,” says Bucher.â£

Tired of waiting on the government, hungry Americans turn to one another for help
Millions are turning to their neighbors and mutual aid networks to seek help they canâÂ€Â™t get from lawmakers or already strained nonprofit groups.

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Caroline Gutman

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