About - Vetri Community Partnership

Eat. Educate. Empower.

Our Mission

Vetri Community Partnership's mission is to nourish minds, bodies, and communities with nutrition education through cooking. We inspire people of all ages to develop the knowledge and confidence to make nutritious choices and build life skills for a healthier future. We are committed to providing approachable and accessible programs that foster a sense of belonging for members of our community.

Our Vision

Vetri Community Partnership’s vision is that cooking at home is celebrated as a source of joy and connection. Our goal is for everyone to have the awareness, curiosity, and motivation to add more fruits and vegetables to their plate.

Our Food Philosophy

At Vetri Community Partnership, we find joy in preparing flavorful recipes that move nourishing foods like vegetables, fruits and whole grains to the center of the plate.

We look at food through a lens of nutrition addition-empowering people to take what ingredients they have access to and make it more nutritious by adding, not by restricting or taking food away. Preparing food should make you feel good and eating it should make you feel even better.

We believe in "any vegetable, any way" because whether its fresh, canned or frozen, budget-conscious, longer-lasting choices often take priority.

Our Educational Philosophy

In our educational approach, the kitchen serves as a classroom to build critical life skills, nutritional knowledge, and confidence through fun, engaging, hands-on experiences.

Our programs provide the opportunity to learn how to prepare delicious, nutritious meals that are affordable, accessible, and approachable.

When engaging with Vetri Community Partnership, you will cook, taste, and learn something.

Our People-First Philosophy

We approach food with curiosity and seek to learn from others because we understand that food is deeply personal.

Food has the power to bring people together and we work to create recipes and environments for learning that are inclusive, diverse, and representative of our community.

By offering hands-on cooking programs for people of all ages and backgrounds, we have created a comfortable community-based approach to nutrition and life skill education that prioritizes a sense of joy and belonging.

Learn About our Community Impact

Our History

In 2008, Chef Marc Vetri and business partner Jeff Benjamin created Vetri Community Partnership.

2008 - Marc Vetri & Jeff Benjamin formed the beginnings of Vetri Community Partnership

VCP started as Vetri Foundation for Children with the goal of raising money to support other youth-focused organizations. We co-hosted the Great Chefs Event for 13 years bringing the biggest culinary names together to support VCP and Alex's Lemonade Stand.

2010 - We served our first Eatiquette meals

From 2010 through 2016 we partnered with schools in Philadelphia and Montgomery counties to serve fresh, from-scratch school lunches through our Eatiquette program.

2013 - We partnered with the Philadelphia Inquirer to run My Daughter's Kitchen

My Daughter's Kitchen was started by Maureen Fitzgerald, food editor of the Inquirer, as an after-school cooking club for 5th graders. VCP expanded the program to 35 sites and engaged volunteers to bring students into the kitchen to learn how to make family meals on a budget.

2014 - We brought the kitchen to the students through Culinary Classroom

VCP educators brought small kitchen tools and fresh produce into classrooms, allowing students to get hands-on with simple recipes while learning quick lessons about nutrition. In 2017, we used the roots of Culinary Classroom to grow a new program - EAT360!

2015 - We changed our name!

Becoming Vetri Community Partnership solidified our identity as a community-serving organization and kick-started our mission of providing nutrition education through cooking.

2016 - We launched two new programs

Vetri Cooking Lab educators led our first out-of-school time cooking classes in schools across Philadelphia, while our first Mobile Teaching Kitchen vehicles hit the road to provide cooking demonstrations and workshops in the community.

2017 - We received funding through the USDA's SNAP-Ed program and became a local educational partner

EAT360 grew to become our signature in-school nutrition education program, gaining momentum by building on the original Culinary Classroom model. With the support of SNAP-Ed, the EAT360 program provides community wellness to partner schools in Philadelphia by leading youth and caregiver cooking classes and promoting healthy environments through physical activity, school garden initiatives, and more.

2019 - We advanced into the clinical nutrition space

The Culinary Medicine program was created as a way to help focus on nutrition as a preemptive healthcare strategy with educators leading hands-on cooking sessions for medical students, physicians, and patients. Culinary Medicine has been promoted to patients by medical facilities and has made its way into elective and required coursework for students and residents at prominent Philadelphia medical schools.

2020 - We moved online

Sparked by the COVID-19 stay-at-home orders, we worked to create new program models that incorporate online lessons and social media streams to promote virtual learning.

2022- We put down roots

Vetri Community Partnership moved into a ground-floor community space in Philadelphia’s West Poplar neighborhood that serves as both the programmatic and administrative home-base for the organization. For the first time in organization history, VCP has its own Teaching Kitchen to host cooking classes, community events, fundraisers, and more!

2023- Nourishing minds, bodies and communities

In part of a new three-year strategic plan, Vetri Community Partnership re-wrote our mission and vision statements to better provide more focus and clarity in the work that we do: providing nutrition education through cooking for people of all ages that nourishes minds, bodies and communities.