SPIRITUAL AGROECOLOGY : Food Bank INFO!!!! EXCELLENT!!!! "Don't serve people food that you wouldn't eat."

Hi Maria,

Here's what I've learned from working at a food bank over the past six years that I hope may be of use:

-- Food safety: With respect to how long the food is good for, we make use of the FoodKeeper app (https://www.foodsafety.gov/keep-food-safe/foodkeeper-app), so that we have a clear guideline for what to distribute and what not to distribute. This isn't quite as useful when looking at fresh produce, which results in some gray areas with respect to volunteers choosing what to distribute and what not to. Our staff advises volunteers to follow a food version golden rule ("don't serve people food that you wouldn't eat") as a starting point and then does some quality control after food gets sorted to ensure that we aren't distributing anything we shouldn't be.
-- Food presentation: The More Than Food program does a great job of explaining why display, as well as a couple of other factors, matters (https://www.ittakesmorethanfood.org/choice). Depending on the capacity of the group that's distributing the food, there may be some other ideas on that website worth implementing.
-- Outreach: This varies a lot from one community to the next, of course, but social media is a great, no-cost/low-cost way to get started. While it's important to keep the digital divide in mind, the reality is that a good number of people do have internet access and social media accounts. The other big factor to keep in mind is how people learn about these events. For my food bank, we've learned that word of mouth is actually the single biggest "source of business" for our partners' food pantries. Beyond these things, good ol' canvassing works just fine.

The last consideration I would advise here is about duplication of efforts. We have seen during COVID a sharp increase in the number of people that want to help feed the community, which is a wonderful thing to want to do. But in many cases, there are already a constellation of other service agencies and/or food pantries in areas where people are wanting to add duplicative services. So we always advise people who are new to us to work with people in the area who might be offering similar services already to see how they might be able to collaborate. This might be especially helpful if the group you're describing has a lot of passion for what they're doing but doesn't have the resources to match their passion.

Hope this helps!

REGIS WHALEY, MPH, CHES
Director of Advocacy & Research
Three Square Food Bank
together, we can feed everyone

p 702.644.3663 x375
c 702.551.4240

* * *

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Debbie Hillman
Hi, Cheryl, Maria, Hannah, and all — I don’t have any specific resources for Cheryl (pictures of acceptable and not acceptable produce for food banks, food hubs, etc.), but I have a couple thoughts & nuances to add to the conversation: 1. Community fridge specifications During the pandemic, I have seen numerous articles, webinars, etc., about how to manage a community fridge. I don’t have any direct links, but I think if you Google “community fridge” you might come across pictures and/or best practices. Perhaps Maria can send one of those “best practices” links to the location in her area. I think community fridges are popular because many are open 24/7 (located outside) and people (both donors and recipients) don’t have to go through any agency. 2. Retail outlets selling “seconds” I agree with Hannah’s point about not having a double standard re food banks, etc. However, there are occasions when retail outlets might reasonably sell less-than-perfect looking produce. a. A fairly high-end retail outlet in my neighborhood occasionally sells bruised peaches for cooking. b. They of course sometimes put things on sale just to move inventory (they’re only open 4 days/week, Th-Sun.). For example, today (Sunday), I just checked their fruit availability. Here’s a screenshot of “Sweet Red Apples” next to “Honeycrisp apples”. The Sweet Reds are on sale, probably because they don’t “look” cookie-cutter. 3. Other nuances Also, the reason that this shop is “high-end” is multifold, including the commitment to provide local farmers with better prices than they might get at Whole Foods and other chains. See their commitment (fair wage) + farm standards (organic/regenerative) statement here: https://villagefarmstand.com Also screenshot below. I should say that this shop (Village Farmstand) is also new as of COVID, initially started to give local farmers an outlet (who might otherwise have lost customers when restaurants were shut down, etc.
Sun, Sep 19 at 11:38 AM
We have seen during COVID a sharp increase in the number of people
that want to help feed the community, which is a wonderful thing to want
to do. But in many cases, there are already a constellation of other
service agencies and/or food pantries in areas where people are
wanting to add duplicative services. So we always advise people
who are new to us to work with people in the area who might be
offering similar services already to see how they might be able
to collaborate. This might be especially helpful if the group you're
describing has a lot of passion for what they're doing but doesn't
have the resources to match their passion.
but social media is a great, no-cost/low-cost way to get started.
While it's important to keep the digital divide in mind, the reality
is that a good number of people do have internet access and
social media accounts. The other big factor to keep in mind
is how people learn about these events. For my food bank,
we've learned that word of mouth is actually the single biggest
"source of business" for our partners' food pantries. Beyond t
hese things, good ol' canvassing works just fine.
explaining why display, as well as a couple of other factors, matters (https://www.ittakesmorethanfood.org/choice). Depending on
the capacity of the group that's distributing the food, there may
be some other ideas on that website worth implementing.
the FoodKeeper app (https://www.foodsafety.gov/keep-food-safe/foodkeeper-app),
so that we have a clear guideline for what to distribute and what not to distribute.
This isn't quite as useful when looking at fresh produce, which results in
some gray areas with respect to volunteers choosing what to distribute
and what not to. Our staff advises volunteers to follow a food version
golden rule ("don't serve people food that you wouldn't eat")
as a starting point and then does some quality control after
food gets sorted to ensure that we aren't distributing anything
we shouldn't be.
that I hope may be of use:
Debbie Hillman <dlhillman@sbcglobal.net>
To:comfood@elist.tufts.edu
Sun, Sep 19 at 11:38 AM
Hi, Cheryl, Maria, Hannah, and all —

I don’t have any specific resources for Cheryl (pictures of acceptable and not acceptable produce for food banks, food hubs, etc.), but I have a couple thoughts & nuances to add to the conversation:

1. Community fridge specifications
During the pandemic, I have seen numerous articles, webinars, etc., about how to manage a community fridge. I don’t have any direct links, but I think if you Google “community fridge” you might come across pictures and/or best practices.

Perhaps Maria can send one of those “best practices” links to the location in her area.

I think community fridges are popular because many are open 24/7 (located outside) and people (both donors and recipients) don’t have to go through any agency.

2. Retail outlets selling “seconds”
I agree with Hannah’s point about not having a double standard re food banks, etc. However, there are occasions when retail outlets might reasonably sell less-than-perfect looking produce.

a. A fairly high-end retail outlet in my neighborhood occasionally sells bruised peaches for cooking.

b. They of course sometimes put things on sale just to move inventory (they’re only open 4 days/week, Th-Sun.).

For example, today (Sunday), I just checked their fruit availability. Here’s a screenshot of “Sweet Red Apples” next to “Honeycrisp apples”. The Sweet Reds are on sale, probably because they don’t “look” cookie-cutter.

3. Other nuances
Also, the reason that this shop is “high-end” is multifold, including the commitment to provide local farmers with better prices than they might get at Whole Foods and other chains. See their commitment (fair wage) + farm standards (organic/regenerative) statement here: https://villagefarmstand.com Also screenshot below.

I should say that this shop (Village Farmstand) is also new as of COVID, initially started to give local farmers an outlet (who might otherwise have lost customers when restaurants were shut down, etc.). It’s still a work in progress, in my opinion, mostly because
— there’s zero transparency or info. on individual products, farms, etc.
— not everything is local
— like every other food business under current U.S. policy (cheap food, U.S. currency creation by private banks, etc.), the numbers will never add up re $$ + fair wages + environmental caretaking + transparency.

With that understanding, I’m glad to have them in my neighborhood. I’m happy to pay the price on a few items (esp. fresh fruit), even though I may have to sort through the blueberries and strawberries a bit when I get them home.

Sorry if I went off the deep end here, but in our role as public educators, food & farm folks need to share the big picture with our communities as often as we can.

— Debbie

Debbie Hillman
Evanston, Illinois
DLHillman@sbcglobal.net
Twitter
Personal background (replacing LinkedIn)

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