Kraft Foods Foundation and hunger-relief organization Feeding America are rolling out 10 new mobile pantry vehicles to food banks nationwide. The goal? To deliver 9 million pounds of fresh produce and mealtime staples to families in the nation’s food deserts—urban and rural areas where residents have limited access to grocery stores and emergency food assistance.
Now in its third year, the Kraft Foods Mobile Pantry program so far has delivered 33 million pounds of food to people in need as part of this three-year, $4.5 million partnership with Feeding America. By adding 10 trucks to the fleet this year, it will reach even more people with an additional 9 million pounds of food. Over the course of three years, the goal for the entire fleet of 25 trucks will be to deliver 50 million meals.
The 10 beverage-style refrigerated trucks—“farmers’ markets on wheels”—bring fresh fruit, vegetables, protein and dairy products that are important for good nutrition and often missing from the diets of low-income families. Feeding America has a goal of increasing the amount of produce in their network to 1 billion pounds over the next five years.
Each Kraft Foods Mobile Pantry truck stops at neighborhood food pantries, churches, or school parking lots an average of 120 times a year. Families and individuals are invited to select food as they would at a farmers’ market—produce like fresh lettuce, apples, green beans, and other meal-time staples such as Kraft macaroni and cheese, and Oscar Mayer meats.
This year, the program is rolling out in Columbia MO, Fredericksburg VA, Fort Pierce FL, Indianapolis IN, Lafayette IN, Orlando FL, Salt Lake City UT, San Diego CA, Spokane WA, and Springfield OH.
The US Department of Agriculture reports that one in six Americans is food-insecure. Feeding America reports a 46% increase in the number of people seeking emergency food assistance through its nationwide network compared with four years ago. To put it another way, the Feeding America network is serving one million more people each week.
Most recently, the Kraft Foods Foundation reinforced its commitment by donating $180 million over a three-year period to community involvement activities around the world.
Kraft and the Kraft Foods Foundation have donated more than $1 billion in cash and food to hunger-relief organizations over the past 25 years.
Visit www.kraftfoodscompany.com or www.feedingamerica.org for more information.
