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Food with Mark Bittman: Dylan Alverson and Jason Finder

Approaches to food access.

Published April 9, 2026

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Dylan Alverson is the owner of the diner Modern Times—recently renamed Post Modern Times—in Minneapolis. In January, the diner made an announcement: Food would be free moving forward—unless you’re a federal agent—and the restaurant would run on donations. 

Jason Finder is the Executive Director of Good Food Works and Salad Days, which offers free grab & go salads to public spaces and high-need constituencies throughout New York City. 

Listen to Dylan Alverson and Jason Finder on Food with Mark Bittman

I’ve become acquainted with both Dylan and Jason in the last couple of months, and the three of us, with Kate, had a chat about interesting approaches to equitable food access. Many of you know of my involvement with—or I guess I could even say ‘creation of’—Community Kitchen, our nonprofit restaurant that recently finished its three-month pilot in NYC—and Dylan and Jason are taking different tacks on getting good food where it’s most needed. 

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