Working Together to Bring Food Choice to Neighbors at Home
Vermont Foodbank network partner, Feeding Chittenden, has launched a new order-ahead food system that is bringing more choice, safely, to individuals and families in Vermont.
“We realized there were many people not accessing our services that could have been,” shares Julia of Feeding Chittenden, about early learnings from the new program. Feeding Chittenden spearheaded the development of the new ordering and delivery program, Online Market, and is coordinating with the other Champlain Valley Office of Economic Opportunity (CVOEO) Food Access Centers in Franklin and Addison counties. The Vermont Foodbank is one of more than a dozen organizations participating in the collaborative project.
“Vermont Foodbank staff were early thought partners as we looked to find a more loving and sustainable way to increase food access with more choice and less waste,” says Rob, director of Feeding Chittenden. The Foodbank also provided seed funding, through a community grant to develop technology for the online market that allows different charitable food locations to custom-tailor inventory available to participants. Your support is part of this collaborative effort that is expanding food access in Vermont.
An early example of the program’s success is a partnership with the University of Vermont Children’s Hospital. Using the system, medical staff can identify kids and families who would benefit from food resources and help them to enroll and set-up home delivery based on nutritional and personal needs and choice.
Capstone Community Action in Barre is the first partner to join CVOEO in using the new system to enroll participants. “When the pandemic hit, people were hesitant to come in person, but we knew they still needed food help, and we have a lot of transportation-insecure neighbors to serve as well,” says Liz of Capstone. “We are hoping that some of the folks who need delivery will be excited to use the new online order system so they can choose what they receive and reduce waste of foods they might not eat.”
Feeding Chittenden shared that it has been inspiring to see groups come together with open minds to solve hunger during the pandemic, “We all want to do better — it has become a community movement,” says Julia.
How do you find the heart of a community? You can find it in the people who run its food shelf. At the Onion River Food Shelf in Marshfield, VT, one of those people is Diana.
Denise is the manager at Sid’s Pantry, one of the 220+ food shelves and meal sites that make up the Vermont Foodbank network. In between visits from neighbors picking up food, Denise talks about how her own experiences with food insecurity influence the ways she supports her community.
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