Let Them Bake Brownies: My trip to the Greyston Bakery

“Let them eat cake,” a slogan attributed to Marie Antoinette, is said to have been spoken after she discovered the peasants were facing famine. Perhaps trying to show some type of awkward compassion for the common people, the woman instead showed how ignorant some can be when it comes to the issues facing those less fortunate.

In Yonkers, N.Y., a different sentiment has been forming for almost three decades: something along the lines of, let them have an education, health benefits, child services and housing by letting them bake brownies.

In a nutshell, that is what the nonprofit Greyston Foundation and its for-profit Greyston Bakery have done for the Yonkers community. Without getting too deep into the company’s roots and mission, its business model, which was created by founder Bernie Glassman in 1982, is based on a network of not-for-profit and for-profit companies that work together to improve the lives of individuals and the community.

The company has received a lot of coverage throughout the years, including spots on 60 Minutes and Oprah, but I have to admit that I was unaware of their mission until I was invited to the Bakery this past September with a group of bloggers. Each of us got to work on the bakery line, speak with the workers and tour the beautiful facility (designed by Maya Lin, the architect behind the Washington Vietnam Memorial).

After our tour, we learned about how the Greyston business model works. The Bakery uses an Open-Hiring process, which means that employees are given jobs on a first-come, first-served basis, regardless of their past. After a year apprenticing in the Bakery, workers are offered full-time positions, salary increases, benefits and the opportunity to change their lives around.

One worker named Deion summed up his feelings on Greyston by noting, “Everything they say they’re going to do, they do.” Before coming to the bakery, Deion had never had a job and was on parole. He has now been with the company for more than a year, has finished his apprenticeship and is awaiting the arrival of a new baby. Losing some of his composure while explaining the support he has received at Greyston, he undoubtedly moved everyone in the room, myself included. If that’s not Food for Change, I don’t know what is.

Greyston’s foundation just adds to its benevolent reputation by providing a network of community services. These include PathMaking Services, which offer individuals personal, professional and development opportunities; Family Services, which provide permanent housing for formerly homeless and low-income families, as well as counseling and child services and an HIV/AIDS healthcare and education clinic; and the Community Gardens Project, which allows local residents to have access to fresh local produce.

Greyston sets an example from which all businesses can learn and other companies respond by supporting them. For instance, Ben & Jerry’s, which purchases a majority of the Bakery’s inventory (those brownies Greyston bakes are the ones found in all Ben & Jerry’s brownie flavors) could easily find a more inexpensive supplier, but chooses not to.

I don’t necessarily expect all businesses to extend their resources to the extent that Greyston does, but it’s refreshing that there are companies like this doing their part to better the world.

1 comment

patsy buchell wow! what an inspiring article! thanks !