As soon as he graduated high school, Ahmed El joined the restaurant industry as a line cook and he never looked back. He fell in love with the organized chaos that the industry is, the challenge of keeping calm when everything else is going fast motivates him. Ahmed is the current manager of culinary programs for the Culinary Accelerator in Immokalee. The accelerator is the first of its kind here in Southwest Florida. They are a beautiful shared commercial kitchen that gives the community a way to bring their products to the market. The space is created for all type of entrepreneurs who want to grow their business, from caterers to personal small businesses. With everything changing so quick, their approach on how to help their members is constantly evolving. They are currently working with their members, local growers, and other community partners to save food from going to waste and to find ways to serve customers, while staying healthy.

Local growers are part of the forgotten victims of this situation, they’ve had to give away -or in some cases throw away- their product, and take a hit on their income. Ahmed reminds us that buying local is very important to help support the economy. A lot of local growers are offering produce pick-ups or deliveries for a very affordable price, and as he pointed out you’re supporting a local business and preventing food from going to waste. We want to remind you, local does not mean more expensive and you actually get fresher products.

Ahmed also reminds us that together is stronger. We should never take for granted the power of collaboration, especially during hard times. Many businesses are coming up with ways to stay afloat by finding ways to work with each other.