As someone who has been a part of both a startup company (this one) and a startup non-profit (board member), I think that starting a non-profit is the more difficult of the two. It’s not all that hard to start a small organization that does good work, but to be able to fund it on a sustainable basis feels nearly impossible in the early stages. You actually need to get people to have enough faith in you and your team to give you money to achieve your mission. If you can do that, you can probably succeed. That’s why I’m excited about the Museum of Food and Drink in New York, NY. In March they held a Get-the-Ball-Rolling Fundraiser that included cooking by David Chang, Wylie Dufresne, Nils Noren, and some other big names. To get these chefs behind a cause and to get enough product donated for a $250 a plate lunch is a big accomplishment. It sounds like the dinner was a big success, which hopefully means that the Museum of Food and Drink ball is officially rolling.

Hungry Yet?

The Museum of Food and Drink is still a long way away, but the dream is big. They aim to be “nothing short of the Smithsonian of food.” I’m not sure I’d call myself a foodie, but I definitely love the art, science, and culture behind food. This museum sounds like it would be a must-visit for me–especially because “above all, when visitors come to the museum, they will eat.” There are three main goals of the Museum:

• To educate everyone-from picky and apathetic eaters to gastronomes and food lovers-about the importance of culinary history and anthropology. Visitors will not only see exhibits, they will taste them.
• To connect people to what they eat by explaining food production and distribution.
• To encourage a widespread appreciation and understanding of lost and endangered culinary arts: recipes, techniques and regional ingredients.

It’s a massive project that is just getting started, but maybe you can be a part of it. Their website is barely anything, and there’s not much info out there about them beyond the coverage of their initial fundraiser, but they seem to have gotten a great start. Their Idealist page shows an Internship posting, but no jobs. That’s ok. Sometimes you need to “volunteer” your way in with an early stage non-profit. If you love the culture of food, a job with the Museum of Food and Drink would be a dream come true.

Links to Help You Begin Your Research

• MOFAD.org
• Jobs at the Museum of Food and Drink (Idealist)

Would you visit the Museum of Food and Drink?

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