Edible Blue Ridge Winter 2022

Above: 1500 meal kits will be delivered to an elderly housing community. Cafe to Grow brings meals to children in the region.

FSWVA partnered with in-home health care programs — those that already have systems in place and visit patients on a regular basis — to deliver groceries and meals. “I buy groceries,” says Hartwell, who volunteers with her employer, TRUIST bank. “There’s two of us in the house and I see how much groceries have gone up. To be able to pack this box with staples and knowing they are on a limited income … The sheer amount we are packing, you know you’ve made a difference.” A new initiative that helps determine exactly what kind of food goes to different areas was a result of Healthy America, a program started by Michelle Obama. Often food from the USDA or charitable food distributions comes from a “white food per spective” — it isn’t culinarily or culturally appropriate for everyone. Recognising the need to offer food that is both fresh, healthy, and local, but also of someone’s culture, led to more careful selection of the food provided to different communities. This was especially important during COVID when everyone was forced to stay home. “During the pandemic, we actually had additional resources. Government com modities — we receive products through the VA Department of Agriculture that comes down through the Farm Bill funding, so we’re used to having those commodities, and of course there was additional funding during COVID. Now, we’ve had a lot of

teer with Cafe to Grow a lot. It is fantastic. To see those kids, when they’re getting meals, to see that look on their face, they are so excited — it’s just amazing to be a part of.” The new CNR is currently still in the process of being voted on and FSWVA is advocating for the removal of the congregate consumption clause. “In our opinion it is discriminatory to ward children in rural communities because they don’t have after-school programs, or they don’t have the Boys & Girls Club or ac cess to some of the other great programs we have here in Roanoke,” Irvine says. Children living in rural areas also may not have trans portation to places offering free meals. Transportation is an issue across the board when looking at food insecurity. From children, to adults trying to get to work or the grocery store, to senior citizens who can no longer drive, FSWVA has to come up with innovative solutions of how to physical ly get the food that is donated or purchased into the hands of those who are hungry. “We couldn’t do it without our volun teers,” says Randy Holden, Volunteer Coor dinator. With such a large area to cover, it’s volunteers and partner organizations that enabled FSWVA to provide 18.5 million pounds of food last year to the region. When challenged with getting food to seniors,

disasters, and advocate for policy change at the local and national level. Southwest Virginia has the highest food insecurity rates among residents across the Commonwealth, especially in rural areas where industries such as tobacco farming and coal mining have slowly declined or altogether vanished. But the people are still there. The region also has the highest child food insecurity in the state. And, while one would think getting food to children would be met with an outpouring of solutions, it’s not without its hurdles. FSWVA is often challenged by government restrictions. Spe cifically, all food given to children must be consumed on site and under observation in accordance with the Child Nutrition Reau thorization Bill (CNR). This restriction was lifted during COVID, allowing FSWVA to expand and instate 30 new programs target ing child food insecurity and nutrition. The Children Food Production Kitchen, located in Roanoke, prepares hot meals, and Cafe to Grow, a mobile meal truck, visits low income communities to provide consistent meals for children. The programs developed during the pandemic meant that 1,800 ad ditional children had access to healthy, fresh food. “I’ve been volunteering for probably twenty years,” says Lori Hartwell. “I volun

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