ARLINGTON, Mass. — One of the most troubling aspects of the pandemic is the surge in food insecurity. Meeting that demand continues to be a challenge for local non-profits.
Food Link of Arlington specializes in food recovery and has doubled the amount of food they’re getting to families in need.
“In terms of volume, we’re moving about 4,000 pounds of food a day,” Rachel Albert, Food Link’s Interim Director, said. “We estimate about 80,000 people a year are receiving some amount assistance from us.”
Food Link gets food from grocery stores and restaurants. They no longer want and would otherwise throw out. It might be items that are nearing the end of their shelf life or produce that’s slightly bruised.
“A dream pickup is fresh produce, meat, dairy foods that are nutritious and harder to come by for food pantries,” added Albert.
Once they sort through these recovered items, they redistribute them to food pantries in 50 communities thru-out eastern Massachusetts.
Julie Kremer co-founded Food Link nine years ago after picking up some excess bread from Panera for a school fundraiser.
“After speaking with the manager about how many nights food is picked up, I learned that many nights it was not, and where the food goes when it’s not being picked up by somebody. I just found that to be unbelievable,” Kremer said.
Fast forward to Tuesday, and Food Link is now being honored by the Environmental Protection Agency with its Environmental Merit Award.
This honor wasn’t necessarily about feeding people. It was for keeping good food out of the solid waste stream.
“30% of the waste in our landfills is food,” Kremer said. “And the other issue is everything that goes behind the food. The person who planted it. The person who picked it. The person who washed it and packaged it. The fuel took to get it where it’s going. The watering. Wasted energy when you throw food away.”
The EPA estimates Food Link rescued over 1.2 million pounds of food in 2020. That’s enough for one million meals.
Molly Hansen runs the food pantry at Bunker Hill Community College and says the pandemic sent need there has “increased exponentially.”
She’s happy food link helps the environment but is happy when she can send clients away with a variety of good food.
“Food Link helps us provide specialty items,” Hansen said. “For example, spices, snacks, dessert items, cake mixes, all that sort of stuff that students might want on their shelves but don’t have the funds to buy.”
Food Link gets donations from places like Stop and Shop, Costco, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s.