Thursday, June 28, 2018
Wednesday, June 27, 2018
Fresh Produce Is Popping Up Across the Fields of Maine!
We finished the 2017 growing season with
distributing more than 2 Million
pounds of fresh Maine product to our food pantries across the State and we
invested approximately $700,000 into
the Maine Agriculture Economy. With the
new growing season right on our heels, we anticipate that we will acquire
approximately 2.2 Million pounds of fresh farm products and invest
approximately $750,000 into the Maine Agriculture Economy. This coming growing season, approximately 180
of our food pantries will receive fresh farm product directly from local farms
in their communities. We anticipate that
the growing season will be bountiful and we will have an abundance of fresh
farm product available when our member agencies place their on-line
orders. Some pantries have already begun
to see some of the early crops such as lettuce and radishes from their local
farmers. We just received a small
delivery of zucchini in the warehouse which is exciting! The season really has barely begun so don’t
be discouraged if you haven’t received any fresh produce from your local
farmers or through your on-line orders.
It won’t be long now! If you have
any questions about the Mainers Feeding Mainers Program, please contact Nancy
Perry at nperry@gsfb.org or 782-3554 ext. 1109.
Partner Agency Survey Results
In this issue, we will cover the second part of the “Service
Information” section. If you missed part one of the “Service Section” in the
Spring issue of our newsletter, you can easily get caught up here!
Of the 162 agencies
who completed the survey:
64% of them, keep sufficient
stock of food to ensure anyone coming at any time can receive food. Many agencies
distribute all perishable products during their distribution, but keep a stock
of non perishable items.
Q31 How does your program typically
manage inventory?
Q32 How many days of
food does your program strive to provide for each individual?
A quarter of the survey
respondents strive to serve each person in the household 3 meals for 5 to 7
days. One third of the survey respondents give out product based on what they
have available and how many patrons they anticipate serving.
Q33 How does your
program get food to homebound patrons? (check all that apply)
31% of agencies have a delivery program. The majority of
agencies allow another person to pick up food for a patron that is homebound.
Q34 How often are the following foods available
for distribution?
The top three items survey respondents reported as always
having available are meat, canned vegetables and canned fruit.
Q35 Do you feel your
program…
93% of agencies feel they have a reliable source of healthy
and nutritious food for their patrons.
53% of agencies feel they are able to provide sufficient
food for patrons with dietary restrictions.
95% of agencies feel they are able to provide a sufficient
variety of foods to their patrons.
Q36 Please indicate
which of the reasons below are barriers to providing healthy foods. (check
all that apply)
More than a third of responses report no barriers to
providing healthy foods.
Agency Spotlight – St. Mary’s Food Pantry
As one of the largest emergency food
pantries in Maine, the St. Mary's Food Pantry has been providing emergency food
assistance to residents of the greater Lewiston-Auburn area for over 20 years.
Located on the corner of Bates and Walnut Streets, the Food Pantry is
conveniently located in the heart of downtown Lewiston across the street from
Kennedy Park and serves over 1,000 people per week. The emergency food
distribution provided through the Food Pantry is one key part of St. Mary’s
Nutrition Center’s broader work to increase food access in Lewiston-Auburn.
Given the extensive poverty and health challenges in our community, providing
education and increasing food access is a critical strategy for building
resiliency at an individual, family, and community level.
In 2015, St. Mary’s Food Pantry
distributed 193,172 pounds of food to 22,517 children and adults living in
L-A. Last year (2017) the numbers
increased by 389% and 170% respectively. A total of 831,415 pounds of food was
distributed to 60,817 children and adults living in L-A.
Dedicated leaders and volunteers have
contributed to the ability of the food pantry to respond to such growth and
sustain and endure over time. The original coordinator of the food pantry held
that position for more than 15 years, originally as an employee of Good
Shepherd Food Bank! The current Food Pantry Coordinator often goes above and
beyond to create a supportive and welcoming space for all guests while also
thinking through and putting into practice innovative strategies to support
people in meeting their food needs with dignity. The larger leadership team at
the Nutrition Center has acted as a backbone and has provided much needed
stability during times of transition. This team currently works closely with
the Coordinator to develop systems that are both resilient and responsive to
the changing and sometimes challenging needs of the many diverse communities of
Lewiston. The food pantry also has a
base of committed volunteers, some who have been with the pantry for nearly a
decade. In order to better support and retain volunteers, the Nutrition Center
is developing systems for orientation, evaluation, and celebration of the
people who give their time to help others meet their food needs.
The St. Mary’s Nutrition Center is
located in an old Catholic school building. While the historic and artful
architecture that includes granite entryway steps and oak paneling is
beautiful, it was not designed with the needs of a food pantry in mind. In
particular, without modern cooling systems integrated into the building, the
room where food is stored can get quite hot.
Produce that could normally keep well at room temperature would often go
bad faster and anything that was perishable would have a drastically reduced
lifespan. With a focus on nutritious food, the Pantry has greatly increased the
amount of fresh produce distributed, and these cold storage challenges have
become even more pronounced. The additional refrigerator however, has allowed
us to better store more produce and perishable items, reduce the amount of
waste, and help get us get more fresh fruit and vegetables to our pantry
guests.
Working in partnership with GSFB has made
no small difference in the types of food we are able to bring into our
community. The increase in availability
of produce through GSFB coupled with the capacity building grants we have
received for the purchase of new refrigerators has allowed us to address head
on the growing needs of our many communities
and increase the amount of fresh healthy food families our bringing home
into their household.
Lucy, a former volunteer who became a
Nutrition Center fellow and Chuck a long time and invaluable volunteer with the
Pantry
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
GSFB Network is a blog for partner agencies of Good Shepherd Food Bank focused on feeding Maine's hungry.