ExtraFood Responds to the Crisis: A New Partnership Serving Small Farmers and People in Need
January 18, 2021

Dear Friend,

I hope you and yours are well. In the eleventh month of this crisis, all of us at ExtraFood.org continue to be inspired by a Marin community that is finding new ways to serve those hit hardest by the pandemic.
 
Small farmers have lost 90-100% of their restaurant accounts because of COVID-19, putting their economic viability at risk and putting much-needed food at risk of being wasted. At the same time, so many people in our community are struggling to have enough food -- some for the first time in their lives. Today we are co-announcing an exciting pilot program to get fresh produce from economically-challenged, diverse, small farmers to people in need:

• Growing the Table, an organization working throughout California to support farmers and the food-insecure, leads the project and provides the funding to purchase excess produce, with a priority placed on farms owned by people of color and women
• Our longtime partner AIM, which runs Marin’s Thursday and Sunday farmers’ markets, sources the produce from 10 local farms
• Farmers bring the produce to the Thursday market at the Marin Civic Center
• ExtraFood and AIM pack the produce into boxes before the Thursday market
• ExtraFood delivers the produce to safety net partners throughout the county, such as project partner Performing Stars of Marin in Marin City

Through this 10-week program, ExtraFood will:

• Help support local farms
• Prevent some of the best food in the world from going to waste
• Continue to follow through on our commitment to food justice by reaching new people and increasing equitable access to healthy, fresh food
• Deliver more than 18 tons of fresh fruits and vegetables to food-insecure children, seniors, and families in Marin 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. had a vision for the Beloved Community. In that vision, all people can share in the Earth’s wealth; poverty, homelessness and hunger are not tolerated; and racism is replaced by sisterhood and brotherhood. At a time when this vision could seem further away than ever, I am reminded that repair, progress and nourishment so often comes one person – or one partner – at a time. ExtraFood continues to be guided by a simple yet powerful approach to strengthening our community: sharing abundance, so that all can thrive. Together, we will get through this.

Warmly,

Marv Zauderer

Founder and Executive Director, ExtraFood.org

ExtraFood Volunteer Bob H. hard at work packing boxes for people in need