New Hampshire Food Bank’s Post

Customer Spotlight: Athens Food Rescue is fighting hunger by reducing food waste. They collect excess or slightly blemished food at or before expiration from donors and redistribute it to local food pantries and kitchens. Here’s how to get involved: 

40%--the increase in visits to Berkeley Food Network pantries since January of this year. Skyrocketing costs of everything from housing, food, and utility bills are squeezing our community members tighter and tighter leaving less money for them to spend on healthy food for their families. Your gift to BFN today will give your struggling neighbors access to these groceries, freeing up more of their budgets for other basic necessities. To give ➡ bfn.org/donate.

Numbers don't lie. Here are shocking statistics about food insecurity in Clark County. We need YOUR support to make a lasting impact. Together, we can change these numbers! #feedingtheirdreams #weneedyourhelp #servingourkids #givingtuesday #communitypartnerships #foodbank #foodinsecurity #fooddonation

https://lnkd.in/gbmWthTM Oooooh, another one! If you line up the timing of when this video was filmed and my former organization's social media, you may notice some photos of a project that was a collaboration with DMARC and some local catering kitchens and chefs. During the height of the pandemic, there was a lot of bulk product available. Great, but not easy to get to families. My organization partnered with Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC), with funding from the Community Foundation of Greater Des Moines and United Way of Central Iowa, to pay professional chefs and their staff to safely break down and repackage the bulk product DMARC was able to source. Those people she's referring to not covering their arms as they were shaving turkey? *clutches pearls Those are food professionals, in professional kitchens. The milk rolling around in someone's trunk? 1) How do you get your groceries and milk home? Do you have a refrigerated truck to do grocery shopping? I sure don't but go ahead... 2) How does she think the food banks 'agency enabled' partners move rescued food to their pantry? As far as I know, the food bank isn't using their refrigerated trucks. Feeding America 'agency enabled' partners also use their vehicles to transport food donations. *gasp Again - it's ok to make mistakes. It's a whole other thing when you intentionally mislead people so they will not work with anyone else. I feel like there's a word for that... To be clear, I've never cared which organization picked up the food or got credit. All I care about is SOMEONE picks up the food. If your organization can't do it, why do you want to prevent anyone else from doing it? Could it be, perhaps, the Feeding America business model depends on pantries fighting over scraps and manufacturing scarcity? If food pantries and all the other groups directly serving their neighbors in need throughout the state had open access to work with any local food business, without needing to get the blessing of their Feeding America food bank, can you imagine what would happen? SO MUCH FOOD! You think Feeding America doesn't know that? Unfortunately, their business model depends on perpetuating the scarcity myth and keeping food pantries beholden to them. It's not a partnership. It's a dictatorship.

With pandemic-era boosts to government food aid ending in 2023, Hunger in Southern Colorado is chronic, and last fiscal year, Care and Share’s hunger relief network—made up of nearly 300 frontline nonprofits and partners—saw a 40 percent increase in visits to food pantries compared to our previous fiscal year (July 2022-June 2023). This reality coupled with Care and Share’s food budget buckling under inflation in 2023, has forced us to buy less food, cut back on pandemic-born services, and reduce staff, to try our best to meet the growing needs of our partners, but it’s still not enough. What can we do? Advocate. This year marks the Farm Bill’s return, affecting crucial hunger-relief programs. This legislation surfaces only every 5 years. In addition, hunger and food insecurity are mere reflections of broader challenges: affordable housing, meager wages, racial and geographical disparities, limited healthcare access. We cannot food bank our way out of this. Let your voice resonate and advocate for a transformed environment fostering prosperity for all Americans. Humans designed the system we’re in, so it can be designed differently, if the will is there. Donate. Year-round, Care and Share and all of our partners need food and funds to help Coloradans continue to make ends meet as economic pressures continue to ravage the budgets of our neighbors across Colorado. We need to continue to meet the immediate needs. Volunteer. Every act of volunteering contributes to a nonprofit’s vision. Your talents and time can become invaluable assets to nonprofits who are striving to become more efficient and to innovate. It takes us all working together. We all have a role to play—embrace that power!

Canada’s $1 billion investment over five years aims to provide meals to an additional 400,000 children annually, complementing existing efforts. This reminds me of India’s Mid Day Meal scheme, which has been instrumental in ensuring millions of children receive nutritious meals, enhancing both health and educational outcomes. Having worked on the mid day meal scheme programs in North India, comparing the two scenarios it’s interesting to observe there is no linear approach to development concerns. While India had implemented its Mid Day Meal scheme years ago, it continues to evolve and adapt to new challenges and needs. In a welcoming move, Canada is now embarking on its journey with the National School Food Program, demonstrating that solutions must constantly evolve to address changing circumstances. This dichotomy highlights the necessity of context-specific strategies in addressing social issues. More to come!

This #HungerActionMonth, our client Fulfill is shining a spotlight on the pressing issue of food insecurity and how the need for food assistance is greater than ever. Discover how YOU can make a difference in the fight against hunger! Read more in ROI-NJ.

Do You Ever Think About What Happens to Leftover Food After Events? 🍽️ It's a question that often doesn't cross our minds. At ETHOS Event Collective, it's something that matters deeply to us, especially when we consider the pressing issue of food insecurity in our communities. Did you know that California Senate Bill 1383, which recently expanded on Jan. 1, now requires more businesses and events to donate excess food to food recovery organizations? This is a significant step forward in addressing food insecurity and ensuring that surplus food serves a meaningful purpose. As a destination management company rooted in California, we wholeheartedly support this initiative. We believe that redirecting surplus food to those in need not only reduces waste but also contributes to alleviating hunger and supporting food security initiatives in our local communities. What are your thoughts on this new law? Do you see it as a solution to the problem of food waste and food insecurity? We'd love to hear your insights and ideas on how businesses and events can further support food recovery efforts and make a positive impact in our communities. Learn more about the bill here https://bit.ly/3VwfHSU #foodrecovery #californiaSB1383 #communityimpact #eventindustry #destinationmanagement #foodinsecurity

Food scarcity and #wastefullness is something that honestly stresses me out. If you've worked in events, you know you'd never want to experience your attendees having a shortage of access to food and you may also notice that at the conclusion of the event, there's usually a lot of food left over. 🗑️   🤔Why doesn’t it get donated? The reasons I’ve heard in the past were due to foodborne illness and contamination - if you can't properly store the food until it's consumed, you could get the same person you are trying to help seriously sick.   💡Well, if we can make robots that create art and self-driving cars, I assure you, we can handle this setback. Feeding It Forward located in Napa County rescue perishable food from large events like BottleRock Napa Valley, coordinate, and deliver it to organizations fighting hunger in our community. They also allow each organization to select what they want and know they will use, to further cut down on the waste. ♻️ I'd love to see this be more commonplace. Less waste. More love to the local community in need. #foodrecovery #localcommunity #giveback #dmc