Value Chain Coordinator Works with Food Pantry
Jonathan Lawrence, value chain coordinator in Southeast Iowa with Eat Greater Des Moines, embarked on a quest to learn where the food pantries were in Louisa County when he discovered what would become a strong partnership. Lawrence was new to his job, but quickly connected with James Nisly, owner of Organic Greens, a food hub in Southeast Iowa. Nisly is a crucial member of the Iowa Food hub Managers Working Group which has helped to implement a statewide program that delivers locally grown foods to food banks and food pantries called the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement (LFPA). It is a USDA program funded by the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act in response to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on global food supply chains. Nisly wanted to expand LFPA in Louisa County and asked Jonathan to explore possibilities there. In his search, Lawrence discovered a food pantry in Columbus Junction serving the Latino community. As of the 2020 Census, close to 16 percent of the rural county's nearly 11,000 residents identified as Hispanic or Latino (1) . The population of Iowa as a whole, in contrast, is 6.7 percent (2) . Lawrence was immediately interested in connecting because he is Latino, too.
Araceli Vasquez started LULAC 317 (League of United Latin American Citizens) in 2020 after the pandemic started, in partnership with Mike Reyes. The Mission of the League of United Latin American Citizens is to advance the economic condition, educational attainment, political influence, housing, health, and civil rights of the Hispanic population of the United States. Forming a local chapter in Columbus Junction was initially made possible by a grant received from the Center for Disaster Philanthropy to the LULAC Council 10. LULAC 317 holistically serves Latino people through translation services, health clinics, scholarships to higher education, and more.
To support the budding LULAC 317 food pantry, Columbus Junction was selected to receive grant funding from the Midwest Vegan Outreach Aid Program in 2020 to distribute weekly food boxes to community members. For two years, the food pantry distributed organic, vegan food boxes to 60 families weekly, and later biweekly, for a total of 55 food distributions. Surveys of participants showed most recipients liked the vegan foods, including vegan meat alternatives, and felt privileged to receive such high-quality food. The value of each food box was $100, so when the funding ended after two years, Vasquez was eager to continue this vital service for her community. She took two grant writing courses, A to Z Grant Writing I and II, and has since received numerous grants which have allowed the LULAC 317 food pantry to continue distributing food monthly and sometimes more frequently, depending on the funding level. She has also begun to organize monthly senior meals which serve traditional Mexican food.
When Lawrence first contacted Vasquez to explore whether receiving local food through Organic Greens would be a good fit, she was eager to partner. Lawrence helped her complete the necessary paperwork, and since then has called her every week or two to place her order with Organic Greens, check if the food she received previously was enough to serve all the food pantry participants, and check whether the foods she received were culturally appropriate. While Vasquez was willing to take any food, they were both aware that recipients are more likely to eat food that they are comfortable with. “I try to incorporate culturally sensitive foods that I know people are going to eat, because I know a lot of Latinos don't eat a lot of canned foods. And that's one of the foods that we get all the time from the food bank,” says Vasquez. “I tried to get more flour and corn flour that people are going to utilize more, rather than just take food they're not going to have a lot of good use for.” Vasquez goes on to say that the community also prefers chicken and fresh produce.
Now that LULAC 317 food pantry is receiving bi-weekly LFPA deliveries from Organic Greens in addition to what the food bank supplies, it is open weekly.
During their regular communication, Lawrence realized that obtaining a community fridge for Columbus Junction might be a good fit. Eat Greater Des Moines has been a leader in Iowa in a novel approach to increasing food access while decreasing food waste. Community fridges are placed in public spaces that are easily accessible such as public libraries and community centers. Food is exchanged when individuals or businesses place perishable food in the refrigerator that might otherwise go to waste, and anyone who needs food takes the food from the refrigerator.
Vasquez says she has received a lot of positive feedback regarding the refrigerator. Visitors to the fridge appreciate that it can be used by anyone, is anonymous, and is open 24/7. She explained that some people don’t use the food pantry because they don’t want to be seen there or because of a misconception that they will be asked to provide sensitive information to the LULAC pantry, such as for their social security number or immigration status (the LULAC pantry does not collect such information).
Vasquez shared a story of how the refrigerator has positively impacted one family in Columbus Junction, which she heard from a friend. A mother with children was out of food and had recently incurred a large expense when her car broke down. Somebody said to her, “Go to the fridge; maybe there is some food in there.” Just the day before the food pantry had been open and some chicken was left over. Vasquez doesn't like to leave perishable foods inside the pantry in between open days if they would expire during that time, so she had put the chicken in the community fridge. The mother took the chicken and cooked it for herself and her children. “My friend said the lady was really thankful.”
As for future plans, Lawrence is working on creating a shelter for the fridge so it can continue to be used in the winter without freezing up. He also looks forward to continuing to work with Vasquez to grow the food pantry. Vasquez has big dreams that someday the pantry will be open every day. Perhaps part of that growth will include more community fridges, as it has been “a big hit.”
1. U.S. Census Bureau. (2020). HISPANIC OR LATINO, AND NOT HISPANIC OR LATINO BY RACE. Decennial Census, DEC Demographic and Housing Characteristics, Table P9. Retrieved November 1, 2023, from https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALDHC2020.P9?q=Louisa+County,+Iowa&t=Race+and+Ethnicity.
2. U.S. Census Bureau. (2020). HISPANIC OR LATINO, AND NOT HISPANIC OR LATINO BY RACE. Decennial Census, DEC Demographic and Housing Characteristics, Table P9. Retrieved November 1, 2023, from https://data.census.gov/table/DECENNIALDHC2020.P9?t=Hispanic+or+Latino&g=040XX00US19