Jeff Marlow worked his way up through positions at several prestigious private clubs in the Tulsa, Okla. area, but now cooks for the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, where he says he’s “saving the world one tomato at a time.”
Jeff Marlow, who up until two months ago had worked in chef positions for several top private country clubs in the Tulsa, Okla. area, including most recently as Executive Chef for The Oaks Country Club, was recently featured by a Tulsa television station for his work at the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma.
Marlow started his career as a chef training at a country club in Duncan, Okla., News on 6 reported, and then worked his way to the Forest Ridge golf community in Broken Arrow, Okla.
“From there, I worked at Southern Hills Country Club [in Tulsa] under ‘living legend’ Devin Levine, Marlow told the station, and that experience landed him his “dream job” as Executive Chef at The Oaks CC.
“All I’ve ever done is private country clubs before I came here to the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma,” Marlow said, who explained that he made the change because “My heart’s always been here, and the opportunity came to where a position opened up here— and I said, why not.”
News on 6 reporter Terry Hood then asked Marlow, “Now financially, did you have to take a step back to take [the food bank job]?” and Marlow replied, “Absolutely I did.”
But he said he has no regrets and is in fact “bursting with ideas to help get more healthy food into the hands, and stomachs, of those in need,” News on 6 reported.
“We’re going to start packaging fresh vegetables and sending them to pantries so people can take these frozen vegetables home and create a meal themselves,” Marlow told the station. And to supplement the fresh produce donated to the Food Bank, he is also expanding the garden on the property and filling up his freezer space.
“We’ve got 40 tomato plants [and] okra, squash, zucchini, bell peppers,” Marlow said.
He’s also working on a cookbook to help people put together easy, healthy, low-cost meals,” News on 6 reported. “My goal here is to just feed more and more people,” he said.
“At the end of the day, I think it’s not all about the money, it’s about what you get out of life, what you’re doing,” Marlow added. “I’m saving the world one tomato at a time, you know?”
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