Central California Food Bank is taking a “quality over quantity” approach to its First Fruits Market, a free grocery store it opened in September 2023 in downtown Fresno. Located on a campus with other nonprofit and service-based organizations, the market serves about 250 families on each of the three days…
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Food banks play an essential role in the U.S. food system as aggregators of value. Like a wholesaler or regional distribution center for a retailer, the food bank orchestrates bulk inputs to hunger relief, breaks bulk, and redistributes that value in right-sized quantities to and through their affiliated agencies. The…
WASHINGTON D.C. – At a time when Congress is contemplating cuts to SNAP benefits of up to 20%, a panel of food policy experts meeting last week found reasons to be hopeful that bipartisan collaboration could bolster other aspects of federal food assistance. The panel, speaking at the Consumer Federation…
For a food bank or pantry, getting into Food is Medicine often raises more questions than answers. Should an organization embrace produce prescriptions, healthy food boxes, or medically tailored meals, to name a few options? What is the best way to work with the managed care organizations that pay for…
Food Helpers, a Pa.-based hunger relief organization, has added an extra dimension to its school snack program through an online character known as LittleMoochi. LittleMoochi is a downloadable app that encourages kids to pay attention to the nutritional content of their food. Through the app, kids “adopt” a LittleMoochi character,…
Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana is expanding a multi-pronged program it developed that aims to lift people out of poverty. A three-year strategic plan, to be initiated this year, will expand the poverty-fighting program into each area of the food bank’s eight-county footprint, one county at a…
Every year, vast quantities of nutritious produce go to waste, even as food insecurity continues to rise. What if this unwanted produce could instead be transformed into shelf-stable meals that nourish food-insecure communities, support regional farmers, and help the planet? Anna Hammond asked this question – and then created an…
Food banking is a bit of an odd duck of the nonprofit world. It involves all the fundraising and programming of most nonprofits, but also encompasses a heavy-duty operational aspect – with warehouses, trucks, inventories, and distribution points to manage. “It’s logistics with a mission,” said Brian Greene, CEO of…
Teresa White’s mission of getting nutritious meals to unhoused individuals has taken about three years, lots of experimentation, and countless conversations, including with a NASA chef. Now, Dare to Care Food Bank – where White (also known as Chef T) serves as Executive Chef – is ready to pioneer an…