As executive director of Boca Raton food bank Helping Hands, James Gavrilos saw firsthand the toll poverty was taking on his community. He also saw that too much good food was going to waste. The U.S. Department of Food and Agriculture has estimated that of all food produced in America, 30 to 40 percent of it is thrown away. People like Gavrilos are working to educate restaurateurs and grocery managers that they will face no liability from donating leftover food, and they can receive a tax deduction for their donation. “The food recovery movement is just beginning,” he told Anne Geggis of the Sun Sentinel. Helping Hands has recently added a new refrigerated truck and two more delivery trucks, managing to triple the amount of food donations they previously received from restaurants and supermarkets. The Whole Foods in Boca Raton regularly donates from every department except seafood, meat, and vitamins. Bill Harper, Helping Hands’ director of food and warehouse operations, told Geggis, “Everything we get is typically in the clients’ hands or being cooked within 72 hours. We are going to be there when we say we’re going to be there.” And Boca Raton’s neediest residents are thankful for that.
MORE: How 40 Pounds of Leftover Broccoli Sparked A Farm Friendly Innovation
Tag: the South
At This Café in South Carolina, Vets Find a Safe Haven
There’s no such thing as a free lunch. Unless, that is, you’re a needy vet visiting the Veterans Café and Grille in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Lou Mascherino and his wife Rhonda opened the restaurant on Veterans Day in 2009, and ever since they’ve welcomed veterans, offering camaraderie and a free meal to those who need it. The café’s walls are decorated with flags, photographs of veterans, and military memorabilia that patrons donate. In addition to providing a welcoming atmosphere, the Mascherinos partner with veterans organizations in the area to connect needy vets with helpful resources, and stage fundraisers. Vietnam veteran George Bontya told Bruce Smith of the Associated Press, “Veterans won’t talk to a lot to people who are not veterans. This place here is like a safe haven.”
MORE: How Doing Something With Veterans Does Something for Them (And America)
How to Teach Kids about Food Beyond the Grocery Store
Most kids in American schools think that food just comes from the grocery store. So a new curriculum for first and second graders gives teachers and students an opportunity to talk about the more complex reality. Jones Valley Teaching Farm, an urban farm in Birmingham, Alabama, uses the curriculum on-site and in schools, teaching students about everything from planting seeds to marketing produce. The farm also partners with Southern Foodways Alliance at the University of Mississippi to tell the stories of people working in the food industry across the south. A version of the kit for older students is now in the works to make the curriculum available to more schools.