Cafe Joust in Catskill New York Offers Free Meals to Postpartum Families
People often say, “It takes a village.” However, few businesses take the idea as seriously as Cafe Joust, a juice bar and plant-centric cafe in Catskill, which offers a free postpartum meal service to local families.
“We’ve been treating this as a donation to the community,” explains Lauren Tanchum, head chef and owner of Cafe Joust. “As an establishment, we have been providing free meals to anyone we know is pregnant or expecting. We either give them a gift card for the cafe, or we give them around a week’s worth of food.”
Tanchum says the way it typically works is the family will call when they’re ready to put in the order, they’ll discuss which items the family wants, and then Cafe Joust will make and deliver the order—all free of charge. She explains that depending on the family’s dietary needs, the food gift might include items like a six-pack of juice or smoothies, a custom broth or bone broth soup, and meals that can be shared, like big vegetable pies.
“I’ve always wanted to do something for new moms,” Tanchum says. “And I thought, ‘What would I have wanted people to do for me? Or what would I have wanted to do for my mother or my grandmother?’ I just felt a creative need to do this and to make it accessible.”
In addition to reaching out to families directly, Tanchum has also connected with local doulas and midwives who can connect families with the postpartum meal service.
Cafe Joust recently launched a portal where postpartum families can sign up to receive a meal, and community members can donate to sponsor a meal. Tanchum also notes that as an alternative to free meals, postpartum families also have the option to purchase meals on a sliding-scale basis if they want to contribute to the program.
When asked about the community’s response to the postpartum food program so far, Tanchum says recipients have been surprised that the program is free. “We just want to gift this to people,” Tanchum says. “We’re trying to create a cultural precedent where we have this facility, we have access to food, and we’re linking you up with the land.”
Tanchum hopes that in the future, the program will expand through collaborations with other kitchen spaces and eventually create employment for new parents.
The postpartum meal service is only one of the community-oriented aspects of Cafe Joust. They also use their kitchen as an “incubator space” for chefs who can’t necessarily afford to rent a whole establishment but who want to test out new concepts or host a pop-up event. Additionally, Cafe Joust often hosts musical performances, book readings, and other cultural events to highlight the creative spirit of the area.
Photos by Lauren Tanchum at Cafe Joust
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