COVID-19 Food system relief
32,200 meals supplied
12 kitchen staff hired
85+ partners convened
$1.9 million into food systems
The impacts of COVID-19 on rates of food insecurity and access have only made the Good Food Collective’s mission to reinstate a just and resilient regional food system that much more imperative and urgent. At a local level, we experienced disruptions in supply chains that left our supermarket shelves empty and food banks void of food.
It closed down our restaurant sector, ironically and tragically placing our food workers on the bread lines as thousands of local residents lost their jobs and 65% of our local producers lost one of their most essential markets. The number of residents who experienced uncertainty in where to get their next meal skyrocketed from 1 in 8 to a heartbreaking 1 in 3. And all of it, all of it, hit our most vulnerable residents hardest.
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Keep scrolling to read more about the many food relief efforts that occurred during the height of the pandemic to keep our community strong!
Save the Food, Serve the People
This partnership between In the Weeds, GFC, and the CERF Fund leveraged our region’s culinary wealth to address meal gaps and lost wages resulting from COVID 19. Recently unemployed kitchen staff were paid stipends to craft scratch-baked meals for home-bound residents. In addition to stipends and meals, this program also provided a much needed sense of connection, community, and joy that we were all craving!
Colorado Farm & Food Response Team
In response to the massive market disruption incurred by Colorado's small and mid-sized farmers (which includes most of our small farms) and their exclusion from federal assistance, the GFC and several other orgs formed the Colorado Food and Farm Response Team, which has distributed $1.9 million in direct-to-farm support, technical assistance, and policy advocacy.
eMERGENCY FEEDING COORDINATION
COVID drove local food insecurity rates through the roof. Residents new to food assistance needed support and food assistance providers needed supplies, resources, and support to meet the expanded need.
The GFC volunteers under the Office of Emergency Management's ESF-6 Team to convene food assistance providers on a bi-weekly basis, create a regional food resource guide, and facilitate communication and resource exchange between La Plata County and the state Emergency Feeding Task Force.