Huddle Notes from August 3rd, 2020
August 13, 2020

Huddle Notes from August 3rd, 2020

Business Models

The huddles this week focused on an innovative food pantry model, how community investment has changed, and our food systems need for a major overhaul to benefit the US economy. Watch the recording here.

Talking Points

  • Livingston Food Resource Center – Michael McCormick, Founder and Executive Director
    • LFRC is a food pantry and a shared kitchen that intentionally purchases and serves fresh local foods purchased directly from farms, with minimal processing.
    • The organization integrates many departments which are often seen as individual organizations.
      • One organization creates synergy between these programs or departments that separate organizations would not have, plus there is an added benefit of not needing multiple executive directors, etc.
      • Includes: a culinary program that propels the Meals on Wheels program and clients of the food pantry, a community room for rent, and a bakery.
        • Bakery: sells their bread to locals and other food pantries.
          • Currently selling $1700/week in bread during COVID to 6 other food pantries.
        • At the beginning of quarantine, they saw a 300% increase in visits to their food pantry. Now it’s leveled off to 150-200%.
          • Livingston has a population of 3000.
          • Their economy is heavily reliant on tourism, which offers the residents many seasonal food service-related jobs that are not thriving at the moment.

Trends

  • Food Pantries
    • On average, during non-COVID times, 60,000 food pantries are feeding 40 million people.
    • What if every food pantry spent $1000 a month out of their budget on fresh food purchased directly from farmers? This would be a $360M market for farmers!
  • Meat consumption is down in 2020, plant-based food continues to increase.

Tips & Next Steps

  • Watch Senator Corey Booker’s Keynote at the Virtual Food Policy Conference
    • The keynote covers how the food system is connected to issues the US is facing right now: economic justice, racial justice, environmental justice, healthcare and health justice.
  • Listen to the Edible-Alpha® Podcast on the Livingston Food Resource Center model on Transforming A Food Pantry Into an Engine for Rural Prosperity

 

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