Building Resilience While Creating Equity in Our Local Food Systems
By Catherine Nardi , with contributions by Massa Cressall , Bezawit Tenna , and Jenna Umbriac
A s the impacts of COVID-19 began to reverberate throughout the United States , national supply chains crumbled . Grocery store shelves laid bare . Videos of potatoes being plowed back into the ground dramatically illustrated the fears that farmers across the country had about the uncertain future of retail and wholesale partnerships . In Montgomery County , food producing farms shared similar concerns related to the viability of sales opportunities with restaurant buyers , at farmers markets , through CSA programs , and with pick-your-own customers . Motivated by these concerns , the Montgomery County Farm to Food Bank Program came to the rescue .
In August 2020 , the Montgomery County Farm to Food Bank program — which is part of the Food for Montgomery public-private partnership between the Montgomery County Food Security Task Force , Manna Food Center , the Montgomery County Food Council , the Greater Washington Community Foundation and the Montgomery County Office of Agriculture — announced an initial investment of over $ 200,000 in local farms to support a sustained and resilient local food supply and provide more nutritious and culturally diverse produce to residents who experience hunger .
Since March 2020 , food insecurity in Montgomery County has increased by 50 percent , with over 100,000 residents receiving food assistance . In June of that year , 86 percent of food assistance providers shared that they did not have sufficient supplies of fresh produce to distribute to clients . “ Manna has seen a 40 percent increase in requests for food assistance due to COVID . The desire to respond to this increased food hardship was so inspiring ,” said Jackie DeCarlo , CEO of Manna Food Center . “ To have the most impact we needed to make sure that producers were involved and their needs addressed as well . Building on Manna ’ s Farm to Food Bank model with existing and new community partners made perfect sense .”
Beyond serving the growing number of county residents experiencing hunger , this investment sought to preserve the financial stability of local food producers , enhance the nutritional content of food distributed through the food assistance network , and reduce the negative environmental impact of long-haul food transport and potential impact of food waste , while fostering long-term local procurement partnerships , all of which are key pillars of food system resilience . “ Farm to Food Bank dem-
6 plenty I summer growing 2021