Chef’s Lab Dinner at Free Food, in the Heart of Harlem

This isn’t just another dinner; it’s an experience enriched by conversations on food justice, art, and community, featuring community activists, artists, and the perspectives of everyday people touched by this initiative.

How Art of Soulmaking Changed My View of Life and My Incarceration

by Jeffrey Yasmine My name is Jeffrey Yasmine and I am from South Carolina, Lexington, South Carolina to be exact, which is a small town outside the capital city of Columbia. I am currently serving a ten-year sentence at Broad River Correctional Facility. To sum up what got me here is ten years of struggling […]

Every meal tells a story

The chefs and kitchen interns of Free Food also have their own stories. Our justice-impacted interns come to us at first as a way to reduce their sentences due to crimes committed, but I hope they also will find something else for themselves while in the kitchen.

What Art Is To Me

For me art is much more than a poem, drawing, painting, sculpture or any one specific design. Art is a sanctuary where the mind is quieted and the core self can be met. Art is a place of healing, connection and service to others, where I have learned to be accountable to my actions and as a means to make amends to the communities inside and out of prison.

A Holiday Soiree

After being away from Harlem, NY for eight months, I had the fortunate opportunity to come back and be the photographer of the Refettorio Harlem Holiday Soiree.

Women Over Dinner Makes History

On December 9th, Women Over Dinner (WOD) hosted its very first dinner in a prison at the Taconic Correctional Facility. On that same day, 100 women around the world hosted dinners in solidarity with the incarcerated women at Taconic.

A Letter From The Executive Director

As we move into 2025, we are uplifted by the progress we’ve made and inspired by the possibilities ahead. There is still much to do, but we are confident that, with your continued support, we can expand our reach, deepen our impact, and build a society where dignity and freedom are not privileges but birthrights.

The Gift of Women Over Dinner

Women Over Dinner has started a women’s movement rooted in feminine principles—it reminds women that their power and resilience are inherent, not given by someone or something outside of themselves, that their strength and joy are in sisterhood and community.