A unique program received a boost last month when the W.K. Kellogg Foundation bestowed $49,300 on the Fresh Food Partnership.
These funds will enable the non-profit to defray operating costs of the program that brings fresh food, purchased at market value from local farmers, to area food pantries, shelters and meal centers. With their third season of operation beginning in May, the robust grant will help the organization better serve needy individuals and families in Grand Traverse, Benzie, Leelanau, Antrim and Kalkaska counties.
"It was a real vote of confidence," said founder Bronwyn Jones, a communications professor at Northwestern Michigan College who conceived of the Fresh Food Partnership idea in 2003. "It's incredible."
The grant came about thanks in part to a bus trip with members of the Council of Michigan Foundations during their annual meeting at the Grand Traverse Resort last year. Jones visited local farms with members of the Michigan Land Use Institute and foundation personnel from around the state and something clicked. The Fresh Food Partnership's melding of local farms, fresh produce, hungry people and area charitable organizations captivated Gail Emig, the program director from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation enough that she dipped into discretionary grant funds to dole out nearly $50,000.
"It's very unusual for the Kellogg Foundation to fight poverty, that's truly a rare event," noted Joe VanderMeulen, executive director of the Land Information Access Association and proponent of the Fresh Food Partnership. "Partly because their primary focus has been on things like education and farming and they do a lot with medical research."
"She looked at what was being done with poverty and saw the Fresh Food Partnership program and was excited about that," he added.
Last year, the second full season of operation, the partnership purchased just under $20,000 worth of fresh produce from local farmers. Thirty farms were part of the network last year during the 22-week growing season spanning May to late October or early November.
The money to buy the produce came from donations, the annual Empty Bowl fundraiser and small grants from other foundations. The food was bought weekly, fresh picked, and taken by volunteers to a central site for distribution among 34 food pantries and related organizations in the program.
"Many of the farmers we buy food from also just contributed additional food if we were there anyway," noted VanderMeulen. "People get a whole range of things grown in our area and we believe that it is the freshest and best food."
Back at the pantries the food was snapped up eagerly by surprised and thrilled patrons.
"People who are working poor or in poverty can't really afford this fancy, fresh food," he added.
Besides funding a coordinator, thereby freeing up money to buy even more produce, the Kellogg grant opens the horizons to expand the program. Education is an area targeted for growth and plans are being drawn up for classes on topics such as shopping, cooking, economizing and gardening.
Jones noted that a plan is to have high school students use local produce to process and market a value-added product such as applesauce. This could then be sold as a fundraiser for the Fresh Food Partnership.
"The people at Food For Thought, a local cannery, are donating at cost their canning function," said VanderMeulen. "So if we can get a group of kids interested, we can make applesauce or strawberry preserves to sell and every penny of it will help us."
For more information on the Fresh Food Partnership, call 929-3696 or see their website www.freshfoodpartnership.org.