About Austin Food For Life
Austin Food For Life was a non-profit organization created in 2013 by Brian Stubbs and Karla Loeb dedicated to helping food & beverage industry workers gain access to affordable healthcare. It also helped artisans and those involved in farming to find healthcare solutions that meet their budgets.
Karla Loeb
Karla is from New Orleans. She grew up enjoying seafood from the Gulf of Mexico and food from the farms and bayous of the surrounding area. Karla is dedicated to growing and improving the food culture of Austin with a strong emphasis on sustainability.
Karla was a board member on the Sustainable Food Policy Board for the City of Austin and Travis County. She also worked as the Outreach & Development Director for the Texas House of Representatives’ Farm-to-Table Caucus. Karla has also done philanthropic work in various domains. These include, include Slow Food Austin and Foodways Texas. Organizing events to showcase Texas-produced artisan food and sustainably raised food.
Following on from a career in renewable energy, developing large wind and solar energy projects for Invenergy LLC, Ms. Loeb went on to become an independent government relations consultant with specialties in the food industry and renewable energy.
Brian Stubbs
Brian is originally from Oklahoma City. His grandparents owned and ran a restaurant for 26 years. After Brian graduated from the University of Oklahoma, he relocated to Austin. Once here he started working as a server in ASTI Trattoria. Brians old fashioned values of hard work combined with his love of the food industry meant he was offered a position in management. In 2005, Brian assisted in opening FINO Restaurant Patio & Bar. Working there for 6 years as General Manager Brian and his team hired, trained, and oversaw more than 60 people. Brian set service and food quality standards and was responsible for food and labor cost control. He also processed payroll, monthly inventories, and financial statements. Brian went on to become general manager of both ASTI and FINO.
In January 2012, Brian started Genuine Article, a hospitality-focused bookkeeping and consulting company. As well working in Greenman, a restaurant consulting company providing investment strategy as well as other services for new restaurants and bars.
Why it Matters
People like Brian and Karla looking out for the common workers in the food and beverage industry makes a really big difference to the lives of the hard working and often lowly paid service workers that keep Austins hotels, restaurants, bars, coffee shops, bbq joints, and bakeries running.
Events
Tour de Vin – Texas Wine and Food Foundation
August 23, 2013 6:30pm – 9:30pm
Austin Food For Life is this year’s beneficiary of the Wine & Food Foundation of Texas’ 11th annual Tour de Vin! Come check out food from local chefs and wines from around the world at the W Hotel in downtown Austin, from 6:30 to 9:30 pm on Friday August 23, 2013.
A Feast For Love
“Call me Lovey!” is what Heather would say when she met you. Heather Love, an Austin native, is a talented and beloved yoga teacher in the Austin community who has suffered a serious brain injury and broken bones from a motor vehicle accident.
Heather spent much of her young work life in the food service industry with her most recent work being at Dai Due Butcher Shop & Supper Club. You may remember her smiling face when you ordered a biscuit at the Austin Farmers Market, or perhaps she waited on your table at the Supper Club. As a nanny, she also cared for young children for several families and was an assistant Montessori teacher for a couple of years before settling in to her career as a yoga teacher.
Heather’s bright and free spirit has led her on many adventures, including a stay in Ecuador to build community gardens, work with an eco-cruise line in Alaska and Mexico, and to Costa Rica to obtain her yoga teaching certification. She touches the lives of so many friends with her uncompromising positivity. Heather is a believer in working hard for a healthy body, mind, and spirit. She is a lover of delicious food and drink, dancing, swimming, surfing, her sweet cat, Ayla, and sunshine. She is meticulously tidy and organized, loyal, and determined to find the best in all things, in all people, and in herself.
Now faced with a challenging recovery, Heather needs all the help the universe can offer. As one of many without health insurance, our biggest challenge is to arrange the best care possible for her recovery. Please help Austin get back our happy and healthy Heather Love! We need her wisdom, love and light in our community.
Join us at A FEAST FOR LOVE on JUNE 9th, or make a cash contribution here! With gratitude for our generous Sponsors: Farmhouse Delivery, Urban Roots, Twin Oaks Ranch, Zinnia & Company, and MORE!
Annual Tomato Dinner @ Springdale Farm
June 3, 2013 7pm
A 6-course seasonal tomato-inspired dinner benefiting newly formed non-profit, Austin Food For Life. This annual event, at Springdale Farm on Monday, June 3rd at 7pm will feature the culinary talents of Swift’s Attic, including Executive Chef Mat Clouser, Chef de Cuisine Zack Northcutt and Pastry Chef Callie Speer, Glass-2-Plate Executive Chef and owner Matt Taylor and Cafe Josie Executive Chef and owner Brandon Fuller.
Guests will enjoy a 6-course meal featuring the plethora of Central Texas heirloom tomato varietals, Tipsy Texan cocktails and wine pairings.
Thank you to the sponsors, Springdale Farm, Austin’s World of Rentals, Tipsy Texan and Pioneer Wine Company.
Buy your tickets here
Austin Food For Life Meet & Greet – 3rd Floor of Olive & June
May 21, 2013 5:30pm – 8pm
This is a meet & greet opportunity for those interested in becoming actively involved in the development of Austin Food for Life.
We are looking for partners, volunteers, sponsors, and community supporters to help foster the AFFL healthcare solution. We are also in the process of assembling a Board of Directors and a Food Community Advisory Board. Establishing strategic partnerships within the Austin community will be the key to AFFL’s success and will allow us to strengthen the organization’s reach.
Enjoy complimentary appetizers and cocktails from the cash bar on Olive & June’s beautiful third floor terrace, and learn more about AFFL while connecting with other members of the Austin food community. We look forward to seeing you there!
Crawfish Boil Fundraiser hosted by Lenoir Restaurant in conjuction with Austin Food For Life.
AUSTIN, Texas (April 16, 2013) – Austin Food for Life will officially kick off the newly formed nonprofit with a Crawfish Boil fundraiser on Sunday, April 28th from 1-6pm at Lenoir Restaurant.
On Sunday, April 28th, Lenoir Restaurant in conjunction with Austin Food For Life will be hosting a backyard crawfish boil to help raise money for one of Lenoir’s former employees, Power Heard, whose 15-month old daughter, Alice, was diagnosed with Desmoid Fibramatosis, a rare type of benign bone cancer, that has already led to aggressive surgical removal and physical therapy.
Proceeds from this event will go to the Heard family to offset some of the costs of Alice’s medical treatment. You don’t have to know the Heards to come enjoy this event, complete with crawfish & all the fixin’s, frosty beverages and live music from 1-6pm. Tickets are $25 for admission and crawfish and can be purchased HERE or at the door starting at 1pm. Beverages will be available for purchase.
About Lenoir: LENOIR is owned and operated by husband and wife Todd Duplechan and Jessica Maher, who have been honing their skills and passion for cooking and hospitality for a combined 25 years. Their goal is to simultaneously foster community relations and redefine the food style of Central Texas. Food and wine prices are kept reasonable, so that LENOIR can be a regular destination for their neighbors. Produce, meat, cheese and other larder is sourced from Texas producers and purveyors whenever possible – and most purchases are made directly from local farms or through local purveyors. In addition to dinner service, LENOIR hosts monthly dinner series events and wine dinners throughout the year, inviting local producers, artists, writers and policy leaders to encourage dialogue about issues that are related to our community.
Those traveling to attend an event can find fancy hotels in Austin here. Couples may appreciate a more romantic hotel.