Walmart Foundation contributes $500,000 to expand and study Farm to Family
April 2, 2014
We do not offer food. Here’s where you can find food.
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我們不直接提供食物,但我們能幫助您找尋食物。
Oakland, CA – California Association of Food Banks (CAFB) has received $500,000 from the Walmart Foundation to expand, replicate and study Farm to Family, the nation’s largest produce recovery program.
“CAFB is truly grateful for this opportunity to grow Farm to Family to the next level,” said Sue Sigler, Executive Director of CAFB. “Over the next two years, we will be able to recruit enough agricultural donors to increase our distribution by 15 million pounds, provide robust support to other states seeking to establish and grow their own programs, and, for the first time ever, we’ll be able to provide the anti-hunger, agricultural and environmental communities with new knowledge on the sustainability benefits of our Farm to Family model.”
Farm to Family currently partners with 114 growers and packers to provide 140 million pounds of fresh produce annually to 40 California food banks, who distribute it for free to low-income Californians. This nutrient-dense produce plays a vital role in combating hunger and poor nutrition in a state where 1 in 6 adults and over 1 in 4 children are food insecure (source).
Despite this high rate of food insecurity, agricultural food waste in California remains a growing problem. According to USDA data, 6 billion pounds of agricultural crops deemed “unmarketable” are currently being wasted in the U.S. each year (source). Rather than being eaten, this food is discarded or left unharvested, contributing to food waste’s position as the single greatest source of waste in the country, outstripping even paper, plastic, and metal in terms of volume entering the nation’s landfills (source). With half of the nation’s agricultural production taking place in California, CAFB estimates that about three billion pounds of produce are being wasted each year in California alone.
With support from the Walmart Foundation, this multi-project grant will not only catalyze the expansion of Farm to Family in California, but also enable the successful replication of similar produce recovery programs in new states, resulting in improved health for low income people and a reduction of the agricultural industry’s impact on the environment nationwide. It includes the following four components:
To learn more about donating produce to Farm to Family, please contact Steve Linkhart, Director of Food Sourcing & Logistics, at stevelinkhart@cafoodbanks.org.
Press inquiries can be directed to Sue Sigler, Executive Director of CAFB, at sue@cafoodbanks.org.
Read more coverage in The Packer.
More information about CAFB:
The mission of California Association of Food Banks is to build a well-nourished California. To accomplish this mission, its membership of 40 food banks focuses on increasing the visibility of hunger and its solutions, assisting Californians in accessing food assistance and nutrition programs, distributing fresh produce through the Farm to Family program, and influencing public policy at the state and federal level.
Find out more at cafoodbanks.org.
More information about the Walmart Foundation:
In 2012, Walmart and the Walmart Foundation gave more than $1 billion in cash and in-kind contributions around the world. This includes $1 billion in cash and in-kind gifts in the United States and $82.2 million in cash and in-kind gifts in international markets. In addition, Walmart, Sam’s Club and Logistics associates volunteered more than 2.2 million hours, generating $18 million to U.S. nonprofits.
Find out more at http://foundation.walmart.com/.