The Farmlink Project reposted this
To pull off audacious food recoveries like the 13.5 million pounds of apples it rescued last year, The Farmlink Project knows it needs committed collaborators. To that end, it's asking hunger relief orgs to sign a pledge of cooperation. https://lnkd.in/etARyMnb
'Abundance: The Farmlink Story' is live. When we started this project three years ago, we were just a bunch of college kids, looking to do something—anything—to help out our neighbors facing food insecurity. Today, we are a national nonprofit that has delivered over 130 million pounds of food to people across the entire country. We're on a mission to end hunger within our lifetimes. Our film explains how. We are thrilled to share 'Abundance: The Farmlink Story' with you today and invite you to join us in sharing this film and vision for a hunger-free future with your community.
Thank you so much for the feature Zero Food Waste Coalition! We are so honored to be in a position to work alongside a group of such talented, passionate food waste advocates. Looking forward to seeing all we can do as a coalition.
🌟 ZFWC Member Spotlight: The Farmlink Project 🌟 📝 Mission and Operation The Farmlink Project seeks to support farmers, feed communities, and heal the planet by connecting farmers with surplus produce to community organizations. During the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, a group of college students recognized the exacerbated issues of food insecurity and food waste and were eager to find a solution to both. What started with a rented moving truck and a few willing hands has grown into a national organization that utilizes existing food banking infrastructure to solve logistical gaps in food rescue and distribution. 💡 How They Turn Advocacy into Action To fulfill its values of making the nation’s abundance of nutritious food accessible to everyone, Farmlink advocates for increased funding towards the purchase of surplus crops from farmers and for investment in infrastructure to move those crops to communities in need. Through a listening session with 375+ attendees, Farmlink has gathered countless stories from farmers and community members about food waste and has leveraged these stories as its main advocacy tool to ask for increased support and federal funding for food recovery programs. 💪 Organization Impact As of 2024, Farmlink has rescued over 250 million pounds of food and counting. This is the result of multiple successful recoveries completed by optimizing existing federal and state procurement programs. For example, The Farmlink Project was able to rescue and redistribute over 10 million pounds of surplus apples in West Virginia last Fall, which not only reduced food waste and fed families in need, but also compensated farmers for the produce they were not able to sell. The Zero Food Waste Coalition has learned so much from the Farmlink team and is honored to work alongside them!
Calling all college students! Have you ever wanted to volunteer with The Farmlink Project? Now is your chance — we are currently recruiting students to join our Student Food Force! As a member of the Student Food Force, students will have the opportunity to work with full time team members as we expand our charity network, contact farmers with surplus produce and conduct research projects. Students will also participate in learning sessions with members of Farmlink’s full-time team and special guests. The Student Food Force operates remotely with a commitment of 10 hours per week, on a monthly basis, with the option to renew at the end of each month. Link to application is below: https://lnkd.in/gAD726a3
Calling all virtual volunteers this Friday, August 30th! 👋💻🚜🍇 We're excited to expand The Farmlink Project’s charity network across the U.S., and we need your help! As a volunteer, you'll be instrumental in connecting us with food pantries and food banks by researching and recording essential contact information. 10am PT / 1pm ET: https://lnkd.in/gxsifgqS 12pm PT / 3pm ET: https://lnkd.in/ghYvB8zj
We're nearing the end of our FIELD Fellowship Tour this summer in collaboration with Planet Home Lending, LLC. Check out our latest blog, written by our Fellowship Manager, Stella Delp, as she visits more fellows working with farms and food nonprofits across California. 🚐🌱 https://lnkd.in/gUbJVrfb
Our FIELD Fellowship tour is in full swing, and the energy from our fellows is incredible! 🥬🚚🤝 Stella Delp has been on the road, visiting each of our 11 FIELD fellows at their immersion sites. From urban farms to innovative food hubs, our fellows are gaining essential insights to tackle hunger and climate change. A huge shoutout to our amazing partner, Planet Home Lending, LLC, for making this journey possible and supporting the next generation of food system changemakers. Stay tuned for more updates and stories from the field! https://lnkd.in/gRpZNWsZ
🚨 Calling all volunteers! 🚨 Join The Farmlink Project this Thursday, August 15th for a virtual session, and help us expand our charity contact network across the United States. 📅 When? Thursday, August 15 at 1pm or 3pm ET 📋 What will you do? Volunteers will be given a list of food pantries and food banks, then tasked with internet research to identify contact details (phone numbers and emails). 🌟 Sign up here! We can't wait to see you and make a difference together. 1pm ET: https://lnkd.in/gu2Kscku 3pm ET: https://lnkd.in/giXcDKhp
It's been a little over a month since USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack released the White House Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics. We've previously shared what we're most excited about and where our advocacy was directly incorporated- and now we're happy to share that we've released a full breakdown of the new strategy: what's new, what's exciting, and what falls short. Check it out below and in this week's issue of one of our favorite newsletters, the Food Policy Debrief! Looking forward, we'll use these insights to understand where the greatest potential exists for the Farmlink Project and other food rescue organizations to contribute to achieving the US goal of reducing food loss and waste by 50% by 2030. The deadline is tight, but we're moving fast and ready to create a more sustainable and equitable food system for all. Blog Post: https://lnkd.in/dajv-7ic Food Policy Debrief: https://lnkd.in/eQWgdVBh
We were so excited to have our amazing Head of Policy & Advocacy, Sophia Adelle, representing Farmlink at Food Tank’s recent event on Capitol Hill as an advocate for large-scale produce rescues and creating equitable distribution networks across the country. She joined several members of Congress, fellow nonprofits, and industry leaders to position Farmlink as a key part of the nation’s food system, providing a critical safety net that ensures fresh, wholesome food ends up on people’s tables instead of landfills. We are grateful for a network of incredible leaders and change-makers; in particular, thank you to Food Tank for providing the space for us to come together and share our ideas and visions for the future of food. We are dreaming big and moving fast within this network and are excited for what’s to come on our journey to make the abundance of nutritious food accessible to everyone!
It was an honor to participate in Food Tank's recent event on Capitol Hill alongside members of Congress, leaders across the Biden-Harris Administration, nonprofits, and industry leaders. Preventing food loss and waste by directing surplus to hunger-fighting organizations is critical to our food system's ability to ensure nutrition security and human health nationwide. It was a pleasure to sit on a panel to discuss food access and affordability alongside Dr. Ruth Petersen, the Director of the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Admiral Rachel Levine, Assistant Secretary of Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Alberto A. González, Jr., MPP, Chief Policy Advisor at Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), at the USDA. As Farmlink continues to advocate for pathways to make the abundance of nutritious food accessible to everyone, I am grateful to be part of a remarkable network of leaders and change-makers working towards our collective efforts to support farmers, feed communities, and heal the planet. So wonderful to see and hear from friends and leaders across the field - U.S. Representative Jim McGovern (MA-2), U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley (MA-07), U.S. Representative Chellie Pingree (ME-1), Danielle Nierenberg, Bernard Pollack, Dr. Jean Buzby, Amanda Oenbring, and Regina (Anderson) Harmon.
Meet Risa Fox, Development Operations Manager at The Farmlink Project! Over the past three years, Risa has worn many hats, from direct fundraising to leading our film campaign. Today, she’s bridging fundraising and finance, building systems to track and analyze all our revenue, and supports both teams to drive our mission forward. Thanks for all your hard work and versatility, Risa! 🌟
We couldn't be more excited about our Shared Plate Pledge, thanks so much to the whole team at Food Bank News for this visibility!