Important Food Updates from Second Harvest

Dear Vincentians, please see below an update from Second Harvest Food Bank:

Dear Second Harvest Grocery Agency Partner,

Together with our partners, we have always met our challenges head on to ensure that we can provide nutritious food to anyone who needs it. We know that being responsible stewards of our resources will allow us to continue to serve the community now, and in the future so we are taking a hard look at our budget and making thoughtful changes in all areas, including the food we purchase.

To ensure our long-term sustainability, we have made modifications to our purchased food plan for the next fiscal year, July 1, 2023 through June 30, 2024. This plan more closely aligns to the amount of food we were providing before the pandemic. In addition to the changes that we implemented in April, you will start to see some additional relatively small changes to the food that you receive from Second Harvest beginning July 3.

We carefully considered both client and partner input on these changes and prioritized nutritious food while balancing options that allow us to still offer highly desired items within our new budget. We take these changes very seriously and look at all options to utilize our resources wisely.

Below is a summary of adjustments to the food we are providing starting July 3, 2023. Please note that you will continue to receive the typical assortment of produce, milk, eggs, meat and donated food items that you have been receiving for the past three months.
• Adjustments to food availability
o Beans will be available 2 out of 3 months every quarter.
o Canned protein will be available 1 month out of every quarter.
• What grocery programs can expect to receive:
o A mix of produce (average of 26 lbs per household)
o Beans, 2 months per quarter
o White and brown rice
o Pasta, 1 month per quarter
o Canned protein, 1 month per quarter
o Donated foods as available
o Your allocations for meat, eggs and milk will be similar to the amount you have been receiving the past three months.
o If you are serving more clients and need more food, please contact your Second Harvest Program Manager.
• Non-cooking bag contents will remain the same as they have been:
o Shelf stable milk
o Water
o Canned meals
o Fruit
o Protein / grain snacks
o Vegetable cups
• Holiday poultry
o We are planning to provide 7,000 turkeys for our partners this year. This is roughly half of the total number we provided last year. We will continue to prioritize meal programs to receive turkeys.
o In addition, we are planning to purchase 15,000 whole chickens this holiday season for partners. Whole chickens are a new addition to our holiday poultry.
o We will send out our annual holiday survey in mid-July, and we will provide more details about our holiday plans in August and September.
Our Grocery Rescue program and Shopping areas provide opportunities to receive a greater quantity and variety of food. If you are interested in learning more about these opportunities, please contact your program manager.
Thank you for your continued support in serving our community. We will keep you informed if there are any other changes throughout the year. We are committed to communicating and collaborating more closely with you during the next fiscal year, as these are high priorities for our organization. We are incredibly grateful for your collaboration in our shared vision to build a hunger-free community.

We will be holding two Q&A sessions for all grocery partners on Wednesday, June 28 from 3-3:45 p.m. and Thursday, June 27 from 11-11:45 a.m. via the following link: https://shfb.zoom.us/j/83443522128. Please join us. If you would like to ensure we have an answer prepared for your question, please send it to Dlacey@shfb.org by Tuesday, June 26.

In Partnership,
Second Harvest Programs Team