The Montgomery County Farm to Food Bank program , born last year at the height of the global pandemic to help both farmers and people who are food insecure, was an idea that continues to flourish. Thanks to Montgomery County and Greater Washington Community Foundation , Manna Food Center received a grant to purchase freshly harvested produce, eggs, and meat from local farms. These products are then donated to
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By Cheryl Kollin, Program Director, Community Food Rescue   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
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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
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Manna’s Community Food Education program offers 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. Now cooking ‘together’ means that everyone cooks from their home following along on screen with Manna staff, Cynthia Wilson, Community Food Education Program Manager,
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Manna Food Center’s   Community Food Rescue  (CFR) and the  DC Food Recovery Working Group (DCFRWG) combined forces in October to co-host DMV Food Recovery Week. The week’s engaging and enlightening free and mostly virtual events—everything from food preservation to at-home composting—and improvisational cooking office hours were aimed at helping individuals and our community become more resilient. If you missed any of the virtual sessions, most
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Just when we thought the local harvest was done for the year, and we turned our attention to food for the upcoming holidays, Community Food Rescue (CFR) had a flurry of requests from local farms to glean their fields. In November, we organized four gleans that together yielded a bounty of 2,410 lbs. of produce that was distributed
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While the global pandemic has upended life as we know it, including disrupting commercial food supply chains, there are some exciting new connections developing in our local food system. One shining example is a new relationship between three food assistance efforts, connected through Manna Food Center’s Community Food Rescue (CFR) program . When many local restaurants and institutions closed, the pandemic left a
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