Ed Smith spoke with Mark Dwyer, the Director of Communication and Marketing at Foodlink.
-Mark gave an update on new food insecurity data from Feeding America and from their local food pantries.
-The report from Feeding America shows a big increase in need over the last couple of years as federal assistance decreased.
-Mark says that during the pandemic the Child Tax Credit, increased support of SNAP benefits and free school meals helped a large number of families and people struggling but that additional assistance has now run out.
-Foodlink is working with their member agencies to try to address this problem in a few different ways, one is with their community outreach.
-They are expanding the hours of their curbside market. They have a truck with fresh food that goes into areas of Rochester that are considered food deserts.
-Mark says they are looking for more volunteers to help with the expanded hours of the curbside market.
-Foodlink is still advocating New York State to expand the free meals program and make it universal. Mark says some districts in our area now qualify for free meals for all students. He talked about the benefits of having this program and how it helps children focus on their education.
-Mark said they are preparing for a big construction project at Foodlink, they are adding a new freezer to be able to house more fresh food. They are also planning on the need for increased food capacity going through their facility with inflation and a higher demand for help from people that are considered food insecure.
-Foodlink is working with the Rochester Food Policy Council to develop a Food System Plan for our area. They are currently encouraging people to take a survey. The data from the survey will allow them to see areas of need and try to adjust policies to alleviate those needs.
-Mark gave an update of the Community Cafe, this was a pilot program started in 2021. It was designed to offer affordable meals downtown during the pandemic and provide a training facility for some of their culinary apprentices. It has been so successful they plan on continuing the Community Cafe indefinitely now.
-Mark said that this year’s class in their Culinary Fellowship program is finishing up and a new class will be accepted over the next few months. This program was designed to give students culinary skills in order to become a chef and work at a restaurant or in the foodservice industry.