This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
A new non-profit group formed at the beginning of the year has put a call out on their Facebook page asking for help from Longmont locals.
Longmont Food Rescue (LFR) formed at the beginning of 2017 and according to their website, their mission is to "redistribute nutritious food that retailers have deemed food ‘waste’ to feed hungry, homeless, and low-income populations directly." The group of around 5 coordinators and 10 volunteers is starting out rescuing fruit and vegetables from the Longmont Farmers market that would otherwise be thrown out and hopes to expand their collections to other commercial food outlets. They also mostly use human powered transport to distribute the food in the form of bikes, making them an even more environmentally friendly group.
The Longmont Observer spoke to Kelly Mahoney, the executive director of LFR to find out why Longmont needs a food rescue.
"Longmont needs a healthy, equitable, 'no questions asked' food redistribution system - a system that isn't dictated by money. At a time when food needs are not being met here in Longmont and nearby mountain towns, healthy food is still getting thrown away in Longmont. LFRs niche is filling in the gaps of existing services by utilizing a just-in-time food recovery model. The food redistribution system needs to adapt to our community's needs and LFR is an example of the change our community desires."
According to the Community Foundations Trend Report of 2015, around 12% of Boulder County residents eat less than one serving of vegetables daily and 18% of Longmont Families with children are under the poverty level.
Longmont Food Rescue aims to change those figures by delivering fresh food that would otherwise go to waste to non-profits that they partner with. The food it is typically used within 24-48 hours. The problem they have encountered is that occasionally they work with non-profits that have no staff available to process the food over the weekend. This means the fruit and vegetables they collect from the farmers market on a Saturday needs to be stored in a commercial sized fridge until it can be collected again the following Monday and then used. LFR have sent out the following message looking for help from the community.
"Hey Longmont! LFR is looking for walk-in cooler space to help store food donations. Some of our nonprofit recipients do not have staff on hand to accept food donations on a Saturday, so if we can hold the food, those recipients can then receive Farmer Market produce on Monday morning! Please help us reach out to any businesses, churches, restaurants, breweries, etc. that have commercial refrigerator space to see if they could donate some cooler space. Immediate need for cooler storage is for the fourth weekend of every month. Please email us at [email protected] with any questions. Cheers! ~LFR"
You can find out more about Longmont Food Rescue by checking out their website or connecting with them on their Facebook page.
