A Regional Food Recovery and Distribution Program
The FEED Kearsarge Coalition backbone team works to find funding and resources to increase the flow of food from farm to plate.
In response to the cuts to federal food assistance programs initiated last summer, the FEED Kearsarge food access coalition has been reinvigorated to bring together local stakeholders working to fight hunger and build food and nutrition security for the Kearsarge Region.
This past Spring, we hosted a Food Security Summit and published a regional Food Security Report, helping our community find a shared understanding of what food insecurity looks like for local households and families and identify opportunities to improve access to healthy food.
One clear area to develop is gleaning and food recovery, where food that would otherwise go to waste on our local farms, or in markets, restaurants, and institutions, gets distributed through food access channels like food pantries, community FREEdges, and other creative distribution models.
To move forward with connecting the dots between surplus food supply and community need, the Kearsarge Food Hub and Kearsarge Neighborhood Partners created a proposal for a local foundation in the effort to find funding and move these efforts forward. The status of the funding is still in development, but we are committed to building local capacity to create a Regional Food Recovery and Distribution Program. Read more about this program in the slide deck and grant proposal below.
Across the Kearsarge Region, surplus food and hungry neighbors exist side by side, separated not by distance but by the absence of infrastructure. Crops go unharvested, produce is discarded, prepared meals are thrown away and families go to bed hungry.
Kearsarge Food Hub and Kearsarge Neighborhood Partners are committed to closing the gap through a program built on careful planning, serious investment, and deep community trust. The goal is not just a food recovery program. It is a model that earns trust, endures over time, and leaves a blueprint others can follow.
