It’s one thing for a food bank to say it’s going to get involved in the food justice movement. It’s another to actually do it. Alameda County Community Food Bank made a definitive move into food justice when it agreed to invest between $2 million and $2.5 million per year…
Posts published in “Farms”
There are lots of reasons for food banks to have farms, and most of them don’t have to do primarily with distributing food. That’s the case at Mid-Ohio Food Collective, which is building a farm of the future consisting of high-tech growing spaces and learning facilities. Spanning seven acres in…
By all accounts, a program that the USDA introduced in late 2021 to help local farmers grow nutritious food for underserved communities has worked out exceedingly well (Food Bank News first wrote about it here.) The Local Food Purchase Assistance program has resulted in nearly $700 million of funds going…
Greater control is one reason that a handful of food banks are embracing soil-free systems as a way to grow produce for their clients. Greenhouse farming through hydroponics (where the roots grow in water) and aeroponics (where the roots are irrigated with a mist of nutrients) offers a measure of…
Driving to a ballgame five years ago, Mark Kleinschmidt, CEO of Healthy Harvest Food Bank, turned to his then 12-year-old son and asked, “What can I do in my job that’ll get you to do what I do without making you do what I do?” Kleinschmidt’s son pondered for a…
It’s widely acknowledged in the hunger relief community that the people who grow the nation’s food also tend to be among the most food-insecure. The estimated 2.4 million people in the U.S. who work on farms, many of them southern border immigrants, earned an average of $20,000 to $25,000 in…
A number of small-scale farms have taken root at food banks and pantries across the country. Paradoxically, those who work on them will be the first to tell you that growing food for its own sake is not necessarily a top priority. “Obviously, in serving 200 people a day, the…
Food banks that run or support farms with a cultural mission are reaping more than just crops. At food-bank farms, cultural awareness can take on many forms: The farms may be focused on supporting Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC), or helping to create a sense of community among…
For Steven Kullberg, Chief Operating Officer at Food Bank of the Rockies, a new government program promising over 3 million pounds of produce, milk and dairy from American farmers each month to supplement the food his organization provides to communities in northern Colorado and Wyoming was too good to pass…