Are you interested in making food donations to a local kitchen or pantry, but aren’t sure that what you’re giving will help? Local chef and restaurateur Mark Bucher has some suggestions.
Bucher is no novice when it comes to feeding the areas most vulnerable. When food insecurity spiked during the COVID-19 pandemic, the owner of Medium-rare jumped in, providing more than 30,000 meals to the areas鈥� hungry in just the first few months.
By the summer of 2020, when it was clear that the region’s underprivileged children stuck in remote learning would have difficulty, Bucher and partners launched , an ongoing program that installed refrigerators at nine Parks and Rec centers and started filling them up every day with meals.
To date, Feed the Fridge has distributed more than 300,000 free meals and has a goal of giving out 500,000 meals by the end of 2021.
Learn more about Feed the Fridge here.
Speaking to 草莓传媒鈥檚 Mike Murillo at a Thanksgiving food drive, Bucher said during the course of his community work, he has learned a lot about food donations: namely what works and what doesn鈥檛.
鈥淲hen we go to the food pantries 鈥� we would notice all the canned goods and all the pasta like on the curb. And we would ask them, 鈥榳hy are they leaving the food behind?鈥� And the volunteers would say, they don’t like it. They don’t want to eat it.鈥�
But when Bucher talked to the actual food recipients, he discovered it wasn鈥檛 a matter of taste, at all.
鈥淭hey said ‘We don’t have pots and pans; we can’t cook this stuff. We don’t have can-openers,’鈥� Bucher said.
In talking to those most in need, Bucher learned many simply don鈥檛 have the kitchen facilities, or the equipment, to prepare raw ingredients.
鈥淲hen you give ingredients to food pantries, think about ingredients that people can cook without pots and pans or that are easier to manage,鈥� he said.
Bucher also said nonperishable, canned foods are problematic when you don鈥檛 have a working kitchen.
鈥淐anned tomatoes. What are you gonna do with those?鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd, you know, the canned goods that are out of date in your pantry? Throw [them] away.鈥�
Bucher recommends talking to local food kitchens about what specific ingredients they need to provide fresh, prepared meals to those in need.
In addition, when providing a fresh, prepared meal is not an option, Bucher had another suggestion which would spread the donation even further.
鈥淕ive them a gift card to a local restaurant. The restaurants need support,鈥� he said. 鈥淟et’s send people to restaurants to have a dignified family dinner together.鈥�
On the future of Feed the Fridge and food donations through the holiday season, Bucher maintained that it鈥檚 a community effort.
鈥淚f I could provide meals for everyone like this all year round I would. If people want to donate to , we’ll take every dollar and we’ll put a meal on someone’s plate 鈥� We are in the season of giving, people.鈥�
Those who would like to make a donation to Feed the Fridge can visit their website: .
草莓传媒’s Mike Murillo contributed to this report.
