Jacob’s Pickles

If it wasnt for these great companies and organizations, we could not do anything. This section is dedicated to you in gratitude for your efforts to help our community. The son of a restaurateur, Jacob grew up understanding that restaurants should be community gathering places and forces for good. As he searched for his first location, he fell in love with the garden at the corner of West 84th and Amsterdam. When I first saw the space for Jacobs Pickles, I was immediately drawn to the garden next door. When I learned that the Urban Assembly School for Green Careers (UAGC) managed the garden, and discovered all the good they do for the kids at this school, it was a no-brainer, I knew I had to contribute, says Jacob. He immediately started offering students internships to develop their entrepreneurial skills while showing first-hand how small businesses operate. Soon after, Jacobs Digs was born. Filipino born, and South Bronx raised, Chef Harold Villarosa received his earliest agricultural education in the bukid (rice paddies) of Iloilo. Emigrating to America at nine years old introduced Harold to a brave new world; where progressive ideas flourished, but issues like food injustice remained. Fifteen years later, he found himself with an invitation from Rene Redzepi to work at NOMA in Copenhagen. Rigorously trained in farm to table cuisine, he steadily ascended the culinary ladder to work for Thomas Kellers Per Se. Harold now uses his Insurgo Project to ensure that Jacobs Digs reaches urban youth with opportunities that embody the flavors from an international culinary movement. Joaquin is a founding member of Insurgo Project . Originally from Berkeley, California, he attended University of California Santa Cruz to concentrate on the nexus between economics and sustainability. As a middle school student in Chef Alice Waterss inaugural Edible Schoolyard Project, Joaquin learned early on about bridging divides from classroom academics to urban farming. He reco