A hunger relief organization in Des Moines, Iowa, is helping to pioneer a new method of fundraising developed by a tech startup. In April, Eat Greater Des Moines held an online auction of certificates representing food rescue and hunger relief actions it had taken in the recent past. The certificates,…
Food Bank News
At first glance, there does not seem to be a lot of connection between food insecurity and poetry. Food insecurity is a practical problem that demands practical solutions, be they charitable food distributions or funding from state and federal governments. Within that paradigm, the role of poetry may not be…
For people who live in neighborhoods where supermarkets are scarce, finding food is often more problematic than having money for food. A growing number of food banks are addressing this issue by moving into a new model of food banking. In addition to distributing free food via pantries, they are…
Three years ago, Ashley Tyrner (pictured above) persuaded a single health plan provider to allow her company, FarmboxRx, to provide the plan’s members with boxes of produce as a way to proactively improve their overall health. Today, FarmboxRx is a $35 million company partnering with 87 health plans to deliver…
In 2019, when Food Bank News first reported on Feeding America’s MealConnect, the app was being used by 22 food banks and had helped rescue 1.5 billion pounds of food over five years. Now, virtually all of Feeding America’s 200 food banks are using the app, and it helped rescue…
Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana has joined the growing number of food banks that are lifting pay, ensuring everyone in the organization is earning a living wage. Gleaners announced in May that it has been certified as providing a minimum starting wage of at least $18 an hour, the designated…
When Eloise’s Cooking Pot started a program to purchase produce from local BIPOC farmers and producers, it didn’t take long to identify a slew of challenges in those working relationships. While the farms produced food that was unparalleled in quality and rich in cultural relevance, they often struggled with practices…
The USDA is hoping food banks will help it advance new methods of distributing summer meals to kids. A new ruling, made permanent when President Biden signed the huge omnibus spending bill at the end of 2022, lets food banks and pantries be federally reimbursed for summer meals distributed in…
Letting food pantry clients choose their own food is widely accepted as a dignified way to distribute charitable food. But for pantries that have always packed up bags, moving to that “client choice” model can be an intimidating prospect. The dilemma is aptly summed up in a survey from December…