Saving Seafood

Good works: Program is helping RI farmers, fishermen and the hungry

November 25, 2020 — Bad times bring out good ideas.

The Rhode Island Food Policy Council – in its work with Hope’s Harvest RI, Commercial Fisheries Center of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Community Food Bank – is bringing food to those who need it and supporting Rhode Island farmers and fishermen at the same time.

This important work has just begun and there are many teams out there working to expand it and build on some work already done.

One problem is that farmers and fishermen have lost their valuable restaurant and institutional business, including colleges and corporate dining services, since the pandemic began in March.

The second problem is that food insecurity is soaring. Unemployment from the shutdown means more people in need of help. Food pantries across the state have reported they are working hard to keep up with the demand.

Demand is up 45% from a year ago this time, said Nessa Richman, Network Director of the Food Policy Council.

Read the full story at The Providence Journal

Rhode Island Food Systems Rally in Time of Crisis

March 26, 2020 — Food systems are complex networks that connect everyone: the wealthy, the poor, restaurants, grocery stores, fishermen, and farmers.

“Food is a fundamental need that everyone has to have access to,” said Eva Agudelo, founder of Pawtucket, R.I.-based Hope’s Harvest, a service that collects the leftover produce from local farmers’ fields and donates it to food banks. “And in an emergency, like coronavirus, making sure that people have food is essential.”

Cue the empty shelves and the panic-induced food hoarding. Heck, cue my packed freezer.

“I ordered food from a grocery store to be delivered, and I selected one kind of mushroom, and I was brought a different kind,” said Nessa Richman, network director of the Rhode Island Food Policy Council. “I assume this was because the kind I wanted was out of stock. Meanwhile, maybe I could’ve ordered local mushrooms of the exact sort I wanted from Market Mobile and had them delivered to my door.”

The coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated the importance of local food systems that, unlike global and national food-supply chains, are nimbler than their large-scale counterparts, and can adapt quickly to disasters.

Read the full story at EcoRI