‘The Bachelor’ Star Matt James Talks Giving Back To Underserved Communities

Former “The Bachelor” star Matt James is known for more than just his TV show fandom as he is a philanthropist, giving back to kids in underserved communities.

His work focuses on feeding and educating children, which he does with his ABC Food Tours and by his initiative of diversifying food options for New York City schools’ summer pantries with shelf-stable, plant-based milk, in partnership with Danone North America.

“A lot of our students live in food deserts and they live in underserved communities where a lot of their meals and nutrition are coming from the care that they’re receiving at school,” James says. “When they’re in summer school, a lot of those programs are cut off because they’re not full school days.”

He adds that his initiative served two of the poorest school districts in New York City, which allowed students and their families to be exposed to plant-based milk alternatives that they might not have the option of purchasing based on where they live and what’s available in their bodega or local grocery store. By introducing milk alternatives, he saw students preferring and requesting milk alternative beverages, such as almond milk and silk-based products.

James is also the founder of ABC Food Tours, which partners with various restaurants and companies to bring food tours to underserved schools. The program is close to James’ heart as he grew up not having access to many things that his classmates did. The program has grown since its inception when James was taking students from low-income neighborhoods to his favorite restaurants. Now, ABC Food Tours is in the process of offering paid internships for students in low-income areas in New York. The students also implement financial literacy courses. “That type of reinvestment into the community is really the impact that we’re looking to have,” he says. As ABC’s the first Black “Bachelor,” his fame helped garner more attention for James’ philanthropy work, he adds.

James is also known for his passion for wellness and health. He mostly keeps protein powder, coconut water, almond milk, Greek yogurt, fruits and vegetables in his pantry as he tries to live a vegetarian and healthy lifestyle as much as he can to complement his marathon training and exercises. He also saves dark chocolate almonds for his dessert, which he sometimes eats before dinner.

His passion for health and wellness is also translated into his philanthropy work as he starts his sessions by getting the kids moving, such as having an Equinox trainer come by, to work up their appetite. James takes students to local gyms and fitness classes to give students exposure to alternatives outside of running and lifting weights. The students also visit Michelin Star restaurants on the food tours.

“They’re meeting these Michelin Star chefs, they’re meeting first-generation Americans, immigrants, who have started their own companies, started their own restaurants, started their own businesses and had a similar story arc that our students have,” James says. “They’re seeing themselves in their community doing positive things, and we’re trying to reinforce those good habits.”

“’I’ve just seen how important it is to provide students with experiences and I would never want a student to miss out on something that could potentially change the way they think about things and things that they aspire to be in life based off of financial limitations,” James says.