Welcome to Food Bank 101, a four-part series that answers frequently asked questions about a food bank and how it works. This introduction is aimed at establishing a basic understanding of what a food bank is and its role in a community.
Food Bank 101 Lesson 1: What is a Food Bank?
A food bank is a central hub of a hunger-relief network. Food is sourced, stored and distributed to a network of feeding partners.
“A food bank is a large nonprofit that gets food out into the community,” said Arika Richardson, Philanthropy Manager.
Second Harvest is a private, nonprofit organization that collects and distributes food to a network of more than 870 feeding partners across Brevard, Lake, Marion, Orange, Osceola, Seminole and Volusia counties.
These partners include food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, senior centers, schools, healthcare sites and more. Mobile distributions, home deliveries and nutrition programs extend this reach even further, helping ensure that nutritious food gets to neighbors where and when it’s needed most.
What is the difference between a food bank and a food pantry?
A food bank serves as the main distribution center of large amounts of food for community-based feeding partners, which include food pantries that distribute food directly to neighbors.
“A food pantry is an organization where our neighbors go to pick up food,” Arika explained. “At Second Harvest, we work with more than 800 feeding partners, all kinds of organizations ranging from schools to community centers to shelters.”
In Central Florida, the feed partner network stretches across seven counties and helps distribute enough food for 330,000 meals daily.
True or false, is food banking just about food?
False. Hunger is connected to health, education, employment and financial stability. Addressing food insecurity typically impacts the bigger picture.
In addition to supporting neighbors facing hunger, Second Harvest has programs to address health, nutrition, education, employment and more.
“Food banking is so much more than food,” Arika said. “There are so many programs here that I’m constantly learning myself – ranging from Medically Tailored Meals to Nutrition Education to making sure people are able to get the food and resources they need.”
Lesson 2: Where Does the Food Come From?
After learning what a food bank is and its role in a community, the next question is typically: where does all the food come from?
What are the major sources of food for Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida?
About half, or about 50%, of the food comes from donations by the major players in the food industry, including food manufacturing companies and grocers.
“We have a retail pickup program, called Grocery Alliance,” explained Chief Operating Officer Bill Collins. “We go out every day with our 24 trucks and pick up from local Publix, Target, Walmart and other grocery stores, and bring all that food back here.”
The food bank also receives donations from large national or international food companies like Heinz and Kraft through Feeding America.
“Somebody like that would send a whole load of mac and cheese or whatever surplus they have right now,” Bill said.
Government commodities through USDA, as well as fresh Florida produce, dairy products and meat through Farmers Feeding Florida account for another 25%.
Second Harvest also stores and distributes food from USDA’s The Emergency Food Assistance Program, also known as TEFAP.
“That is basically all surplus food that the government buys to stabilize markets,” Bill explained.
The food bank also has a food purchasing program called Power Purchase made possible by financial donations, which enables Second Harvest to obtain supplemental food items at a below-bulk rate.
Lastly, support from the community in the form of food drives accounts for the rest of the food at Second Harvest, around another 25%.
If food stopped coming in, how long would it take to empty the warehouse ?
Second Harvest distributes approximately 7.5 million pounds of food every month from its main warehouse in Orlando. There are typically around 3.5 million pounds in the warehouse at any given time.
“I checked (on a recent morning), and we have about 3.2 million pounds of food,” Bill said about the current contents of the warehouse. “So, what's in here would be gone if we stop bringing it in in less than two weeks.”
More food is being distributed than ever and at a faster rate.
If Second Harvest didn’t rescue all this food, what would happen to it?
It’s important to understand that much of food that is rescued and distributed by Second Harvest would have been thrown away and gone to waste otherwise. The food bank is a hunger relief organization, and an environmentally conscious one.
“Last year, we (brought in) 100 million pounds of food,” Bill explained. “About 70 million pounds of that 100 million would probably go to the landfill. By the time we take out the truly spoiled food, it's about 4 million pounds. So, 4% of that 100 million actually goes into the trash. The rest goes out into the community as wholesome food, ready to eat.”
Tune in next week to Food Bank 101 to find out where all the food goes in Lesson 3
