Jewish motorcyclist embarks on ‘Great American Deli Schlep’

Courtesy of Steve Goode
As many Americans settle back into the workweek, one motorcyclist is going a step further to burn off long weekend celebrations: Tuesday marks the start of Steve Goode’s “Great American Deli Schlep” around the country. Goode is partnering with the Jewish national advocacy group MAZON to raise money and awareness for the fight against hunger during his nearly 50-state journey.
Goode began the 16,000 mile expedition this morning at Manny’s Deli in Chicago. The 75-day trip will wind down the East Coast to the Bible Belt, across the Southwest – with stops in Los Angeles, Portland and Seattle – and then cross the finish line at Jake’s Deli in Milwaukee. He’ll hit 42 delis – from staples like Katz’s Deli in New York City to the lesser known BernBaum’s in Fargo, N.D. and Feldman’s Deli in Salt Lake City, Utah. Along the way, Goode will join deli owners and patrons at each location for conversations about how to help solve America’s hunger crisis.

Courtesy of MAZON
The Chicago-based cyclist has experience with such trips. He has completed both a journey across the 48 contiguous states and an expedition through national parks, biking more than 31,000 miles between them.
In a blog post on MAZON’s site, Goode explained how Nosher’s 2018 map of the best Jewish delis in every state prompted the idea to blend his passions for motorcycling and Judaism. His decision to partner with MAZON, an organization that works to advance policy solutions and confront food insecurity in the U.S. and Israel, has taken on new meaning in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since March of 2020, the number of Americans struggling with food insecurity has doubled from 40 to 80 million, with and groups like single mothers and Native Americans are especially vulnerable.
“Planning this trip has taught me so much about the persistent hunger crisis so many people face,” Goode wrote. “I’m hopeful that the ‘Great American Deli Schlep’ will help amplify the conversation about hunger in America and I’m eager to start the dialogue with communities who are unaware of its scope and magnitude.”
MAZON President and CEO Abby J. Leibman echoed Goode’s sentiments that the pandemic has made America’s hunger crisis an urgent problem.
“We are grateful for supporters like Steve who believe that no one should experience hunger in this land of plenty, and we look forward to following him across the country for the ‘Great American Deli Schlep’,” Leibman said. “Steve is connecting people across the country, one deli at a time, to learn more about the hunger crisis in America—and build a future where no one faces barriers to a nutritious meal.”
Goode’s trip is expected to conclude in the middle of August.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 3
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 4
Culture How two Jewish names — Kohen and Mira — are dividing red and blue states
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward ‘Another Jewish warrior’: Fine wins special election for U.S. House seat
-
Fast Forward A Chicagoan wanted to protest Elon Musk — and put a swastika sticker on a Jewish man’s Tesla
-
Fast Forward NY attorney general orders car wash to stop ripping off Jews with antisemitic ‘Passover special’
-
Fast Forward Cory Booker proclaims, ‘Hineni’ — I am here — 19 hours into anti-Trump Senate speech
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.