Change Lives With Spare Change
At Care and Share Food Bank, we understand that life happensbut hunger shouldn’t. Thousands of our neighbors don’t know where their next meal will come from. Your donation can be the reason they never have to wonder again.
Just $1 provides 6 meals
to neighbors in need across Southern Colorado.
25 million lbs of food
was distributed across 31 counties last year.
209,172 people
received the food they needed from our network of partners and programs.
4,927 kids
took nutritious food home through our Children’s programs
Full belliesfull hearts
Last year, we gave out more than 12,976 Send Hunger Packing bags.
Our Send Hunger Packing school program provides kids with a bag of food each week to take home to their families. Programs like thesesupported by donors like youmean kids like Xander have the food they need to learn and grow.
The Shortcomings Of Central Planning
There were a couple problems with this system. One big one was that three-quarters of food banks food comes through direct donations, such as from local retailers, and therefore Feeding America had no idea what its partners had and how much of it they had. This was particularly a problem because of spoilage: not only did sending, say, yogurt to some place that already had yogurt mean that it didnt go to some place that needed or wanted it more, but it also created some likelihood that the yogurt would spoil and go to waste.
An example that illustrates how insensitive this system was to individual partners specific food needs was provided by one of the people who was on the committee that developed our market system. He was a food bank director in Idaho, and he would routinely get phone calls from Feeding America saying, Great news, we have potatoes for you. But of course, he already had warehouses full of potatoes.
Another problem was that there were some areas of the country that were very close to a lot of distributors and food production, and others that were not. If youre a food bank in Wisconsin, youre getting a lot of food anyway. If youre in East Texas, youre not near a lot of production and distribution. So some food banks are systematically better off than others.
Does The Regional Food Bank Purchase Food
The Food Bank operates a cooperative buying program for its member agencies, where we purchase needed items in large quantities and then resell the food to the member agencies. Our Coop Program helps supplement our donated food inventory, enabling the Food Bank to meet most of the food needs of its member agencies. Monetary donations to the Regional Food Bank are not used to purchase food, but to underwrite the costs of transporting, storing, and distributing donated food, which is why every dollar donated lets the Regional Food Bank distribute $10 worth of food!
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More Americans Are Going Hungry And It Costs More To Feed Them
The director of the nations largest network of food banks is seeing support dwindle as need rises: Youre in the middle of a battle, and people are leaving the field.
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By Lora Kelley and Nicholas Kulish
The first time Kelly Wilcox drove her 2017 Dodge Grand Caravan to the food pantry near her home in Payson, Utah, she noticed one thing right away that surprised her: newer models of Toyota and Honda sedans and minivans. I saw a bunch of other people with cars like mine, who had kids in cars, she said.
The mother of four young sons hadnt known what to expect when she made that initial trip to Tabithas Way Local Food Pantry this spring. She did know she needed help. Her husband had lost his job. He soon found a new job as an account manager, but with inflation it hasnt been enough. We still cannot keep up with the bills, said Ms. Wilcox, 35. To keep her children fed this summer, she has visited the pantry regularly and said that barring a change, like a drop in food prices or a raise for her husband, it will be necessary for the foreseeable future.
Food banks are trying to meet these needs while coping with decreasing donations and, in some cases, increased awareness among people who need help that food banks are an option.
Anyone Can Be A Food Donor
Anyone can donate food, including farmers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, restaurants, cafeterias, hotels, cruise ships, and households, just to name a few.
- EPAs Excess Food Opportunities Map is an interactive tool that displays the locations of nearly 1.2 million potential industrial, commercial and institutional excess food generators and more than 4,000 potential recipients.
- Gleaning is the collection of excess fresh foods from farms, gardens, farmers markets, and other sources to provide it to those in need. Typically, volunteers partner with a farm to glean excess fresh produce and deliver it to a food bank or food pantry. Learn how to develop a successful gleaning program with this USDA toolkit .
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How Food Banks Used Markets
How Feeding America learned to feed more by embracing the free market.
Feeding America faces the same question every year: How to distribute the 300 million pounds of food donated to its 210 regional food banks. Until 2005, Feeding America distributed food and other goods on a first come first serve basis. Food banks that had been waiting for new supplies the longest received new donations, regardless of what those donations were. Although arguably a fair method of distributing supplies, food frequently ended up in the wrong places. Idaho has warehouses packed with potatoes, yet food banks located in the state continuously received potatoes. Before 2005, it would take days to work out which food banks received what, in which time fresh produce could spoil. The organization suffered gross problems of inefficiency in allocating already scarce resources.
Feeding America demonstrated the power of markets as a fair and equitable tool. It proved that efficiency and equity were not two separate concepts, but rather closely intertwined. Much of modern political discourse assumes that free market principles are associated with inequality, serving the richest and not the neediest. However, Feeding America found that unfair market outcomes could be avoided through eliminating wealth disparity by placing participating bidders on an equal footing. When two similarly equipped actors vie for one good, it is the actor that places greater value on the good that will outbid the other.
Tell Me More About Your Operations
The Regional Food Bank is an independent, 501 non-profit corporation. A volunteer Board of Directors governs the organization. The Regional Food Bank employs a dedicated staff and involves thousands of volunteers in its work to feed hungry people. We have a satellite warehouse operation in Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, called Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, which serves agencies in six counties of the lower Hudson Valley area. We are not a government agency, and in fact, do not receive government money for our day-to-day operations, although we do administer certain government food programs.
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Does The Food Bank Sell Food
The Regional Food Bank does not, and in fact cannot, sell the donated food it receives. Moreover, the local food pantries and soup kitchens cannot charge the hungry people they serve for this food. The Food Bank does ask the agencies that receive food to cooperate in the support of the Food Bank by contributing a shared maintenance fee of 16¢ per pound for about half of the food they receive. Some food, such as produce, is provided to all agencies free of charge.
The Feeding America Network
Feeding America is a nationwide network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs that provides food and services to people each year. Together, we are the nations largest domestic hunger-relief organization. When you contribute to Feeding America, you are joining our efforts in nearly every community in all 50 states, Washington D.C., and Puerto Rico.
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Who Needs The Food
Much of the food that goes to food pantries doesnt actually come from a check that you write to your local food depository. Instead, it comes from either manufacturers or distributors. Feeding America will get a phone call from a big manufacturer that has a truckloads worth of mac and cheese in its warehouse in Wisconsin that its offering to give away. This presents Feeding America with a couple of surprisingly complicated questions: Do food banks want it, and if so, who gets it?
Theyre complicated for a number of logistical and other reasons, but also because of one fundamental problem that Feeding America always faced, which was that it never really knew who needed that truckload most. If it just asked, Who wants this truck of mac and cheese? everyone would stick their hands up. But if theres one thing that markets are good at, its allowing desire to be expressed. And markets most basic trick is that when somebody raises her hand and says she wants something, it means she doesnt get something else.
Some food banks are systematically better off than others.
When the call came in that a truckload of food was available, it would dial the first partner on the list. That organization usually would have about six hours to make a decision. If it said yes, it was responsible for going to get the foodit would use its own truck and pay the cost of transporting the food itself. If it said no, itd be moved down to the bottom of the list for the next call.
The Power Of Fake Money
The results of the shift in allocation mechanisms have been dramatic, according to a number of measures. One of the most staggering results from the markets implementation was on the overall size of the food supply. The more efficient, more liquid market we created was accompanied by a large uptick in how much food Feeding America received. From 2004 to 2006, food allocated by these donations increased by about 130 million pounds, enough to feed about 80,000 extra people every day.
But another striking outcome, especially for an economist, was in price discovery. Under the old rules, a pound of one type of food was given the same value as a pound of any other type of foodthere was no rate of exchange between them. But we have found that if you allow people to exercise choice and you assign relative values to different items, those values will vary greatly. For example, on our market, you can get 1 pound of cereal for about 35 pounds of fresh fruit and vegetables. Food banks are very different in the choices that they make. Some organizations want the inexpensive thingsthe produce, the drinks, the snacks. Some organizations only want the expensive goods, such as cereal. Some partners are getting 15 pounds of food for every share that they spend others are getting close to 0 pounds per share.
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Free Markets Help Food Banks Serve The Poor
Discussion of capitalism often focuses on contributions to economic growth or productivity, but this emphasis places an artificial limit on the potential benefits of free markets. In a new article in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, Professor Canice Prendergast of the Booth School of Business analyses how a nonprofit food bank has harnessed the power of markets to help reduce costs. Even in areas removed from revenue or profit considerations, free markets can provide value. Other nonprofits and components of civil society could potentially make similar progress.
Feeding America is a nonprofit that receives food donations from manufacturers and distributors around the country. Its mission is to distribute food to a network of 210 food banks throughout the country. Until 2005, the organization allocated food in the same way as many nonprofits, through a wait your turn system, in which food was assigned based on a food banks position in the queue. A food bank high in the queue would receive a notification from Feeding America that it had been assigned food, and if it accepted the offer it would be responsible for collecting the food from the donor. The system did not distinguish between different types of food, which contributed to one of the major problems of the centralized system.
Charles Hughes is a policy analyst at the Manhattan Institute. Follow him on Twitter @CharlesHHughes.
Preparing For Disaster Relief
As the only network capable of ramping up 300% during times of natural disaster, Feeding Floridas food banks have the capacity and supplies needed to provide aid to people across the state. Through our partnership with Division of Emergency Management, we can assist the State Emergency Response Team immediately, providing life-changing supplies such as pallets of water, ready to eat meals, first aid and more.
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Our Statewide Network Of Food Banks Works To Feed 22 Million Hungry Floridians
Feeding Florida member food banks support more than 2,400 community-based partner agencies, which provide food directly to individuals and families in need to ensure a hunger-free Florida. Last year, the Feeding Florida network provided over 404 million pounds of food. Of that, over 30% million pounds was fresh fruits and vegetables. Feeding Florida is a unified voice regarding hunger and food access by focusing on each communitys needs.
Places To Donate Food
There are food recipient organizations across the country. The following sites offer tools to help donors find nearby food banks, pantries, soup kitchens and shelters that may accept wholesome, excess food.
- Feeding America is a national network of food banks, individuals, national offices, and corporate and government partners working to combat hunger in the U.S. Use the Find Your Local Food Bank tool to locate food programs by state or zip code.
- Ample Harvest is a nationwide effort to educate, enable, and encourage gardeners to donate extra produce to local food pantries. Use their Find a Pantry tool to donate food you grow or buy.
- The Homeless Shelter Directory is a crowdsourced listing for people who want to find and donate food and/or supplies to their local shelter.
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Why This Family Will Never Make This Popular Staple Ever Again
This is a very special episode of Food Babe TV. I receive thousands of letters, emails and comments asking for help everyday. Watch as I visit a busy family in need of a major pantry makeover and show them how to remake their favorite go to dinner without harmful ingredients. This video is full of really important information. At the end, I share an update about my visit with a major fast food company.
Challenges For Food Banks In Providing Healthier Foods
While food banks and food pantries are critical food sources to address food insecurity, they are not always sources of fresh, healthy food. Food banks often receive donations of less-healthy options, including canned or packaged food products that have a longer shelf life and are easy to store and distribute.
In order to address both food insecurity and support healthy diets to prevent and treat chronic disease, food pantries need to provide a variety of healthy foods. However, lack of staff and physical infrastructure and chronic funding shortages can make it difficult for a food pantry to secure and distribute healthy items, especially fresh fruits and vegetables. Many food pantries only distribute food to clients a few times per month or don’t have the refrigeration capacity necessary to handle fresh produce. Food pantries can move toward becoming Hospitals can play an important role in supporting these efforts.
Food banks and pantries may be cautious when implementing strong nutrition standards out of concern that it may reduce the total amount of food available for distribution. Yet this worry may be misplaced. The Capital Area Food Bank received overwhelming support from retail donors when it established its nutrition policies. For example, Giant Food, a key donor, implemented a Retailers for Wellness program that sorts out soda, bakery items, and candy from food bank donation bins and prepares nutritious boxes for customers to purchase for donation at checkout.
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How Does Food Banking Work
The Community Food Bank of Central Alabama operates as a food distribution center. We purchase food from industry sources, and we receive surplus food reclaimed from local grocery stores. In turn, we distribute that food to over 230 nonprofits in the community who act as our agency partners. The agencies receive food from the Community Food Bank and distribute that food to those in need, free of charge.
We do not distribute food directly from our facility, but we operate a number of public food distributions, called Mobile Pantries, which we host around our 12-county area. When we identify a gap, either geographically or demographically, that leaves specific populations vulnerable to hunger, we operate direct meal programs that foster healthy food access for those at risk of hunger. You can find these distributions on the calendar on our Find Food page.
Tell Me More About These Member Agencies
To be members of the Food Bank, agencies must be not-for-profit, 501 organizations serving people in need. They must serve free meals or provide free food packages, and have proper facilities for storage, cooking, and food handling. The Food Bank monitors these agencies on a regular basis to assure they handle food in a safe, sanitary manner. Emergency feeding programs which are members of the Food Bank provide monthly statistics on the number of people they serve.
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