What’s the best way to strengthen SNAP? The sprawling program, which cost $113 billion in 2021 – nearly double the $60 billion spent in pre-pandemic 2019 – is guided by a vast set of rules and requirements. These stipulations ultimately dictate how many people are served by the program and…
Food Bank News
Feed More is Central Virginia’s hunger-relief organization, supporting over 400 agencies and programs with its food bank, children’s feeding and Meals on Wheels programs. Historically, the relationship between the food bank and its partners was largely compliance-oriented and lacking in two-way communication. Feed More felt shifting to a capacity-focused relationship…
The connection between poor mental health and food insecurity comes as no surprise to the people who run Chicago-based Lakeview Pantry. While the pandemic has highlighted the link between food insecurity and mental health, Lakeview has been addressing the issue since as far back as 2017, when it began offering…
The Greater Boston Food Bank has embarked on a three-year, $5-million plan to transform itself into a unified, digital-first organization that emphasizes top-notch service. Dubbed “Project Everest,” the initiative will seek to make the food bank’s technology operations more efficient, while creating better experiences for four key stakeholder groups: its…
A new food program introduced by the USDA draws on lessons learned from the Farmers to Families Food Box program to create an assistance program unlike any other in the hunger relief community. The traditional aims of USDA food programs – nutrition assistance and food security – are not the…
Food banks have a bigger presence in the U.S. than ever. It’s not just that millions of Americans turned to food banks for the first time during the pandemic. It’s also that food banks are exploding in terms of sheer footprint. Most prominent is Atlanta Community Food Bank’s new 345,000…
A survey of 50 food banks of all sizes found that larger food banks are more likely to rely on technology and operations partners for help in making home deliveries, bringing more efficiency to their programs. Home deliveries, rarely offered by food banks before the pandemic, have become much more…
The Greater Chicago Food Depository has not been the same ever since CEO Kate Maehr took to heart the inequities revealed by Covid-19. Her visceral reaction to the pandemic’s impact – she has described realizing the depth of inequity between neighborhoods as a slap in the face – has resulted…
By the time a new food program to serve Indigenous populations in Wisconsin wraps up at the end of this month, it will have distributed more than 10,000 food boxes to Tribal Elders throughout the state. For the hunger-relief organizations involved, it also will have provided a new perspective on…