Read on for the latest news from Community Food Rescue, a program of Manna Food Center
Spring 2021
Happy Spring! In this issue, we highlight ways that CFR and its members have creatively pivoted during COVID to meet the many needs in our community. Read on to learn more.
The one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic provides a point in time to reflect on how this global crisis has jolted each of us personally and drastically affected our community. In her article for Food Tank, Food (In)Security and Waste: Lessons Learned from the Pandemic, author Marie Mourad, PhD, offers insightful observations about the failures of our current national food system.
Her article got me thinking about how those of us working on food insecurity in Montgomery County, Maryland, have pivoted and collaborated to meet these food system challenges during COVID-19.
In the past year of the global pandemic, we have learned a lot about COVID-19 and about how quickly and dramatically our world can change. Sadly, some food businesses have had to close permanently.
Others have found ways to stay open, keep their workers employed, and keep their customers and workers safe. Two local small businesses,Coop’s Soups and MASTIHA Greek Bakery, have gone a step further.
Manna’sCommunity Food Education programoffers free classes to Manna participants, their families, and students who attend schools with high Free and Reduced Meals (FARMS) rates. However, due to COVID-19, all classes have gone virtual.
In addition to figuring out the right camera angles for a virtual cooking class, Cynthia and Wynne turned to Manna’s Community Food Rescue (CFR) program, with its large cohort of volunteer food runners, to deliver recipe ingredients to each household. Here’s a taste of classes offered and how CFR’s food runners can help with deliveries.
