We bid a fond farewell to our colleague and friend Susan Wexler, CFR outreach coordinator, who finished her work with Community Food Rescue on Nov. 30th. Susan joined CFR in 2016 to help expand the CFR network of food donor businesses, food assistance organizations, and volunteer food runners. With her help, CFR has grown from
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On a sunny and brisk October morning, locals gathered in Downtown Silver Spring to watch two teams of professional and amateur chefs compete in the third annual No Waste, Big Taste: A Rescued Food Cooking Competition. The competition, organized by Manna Food Center (Manna) and co-hosted by Downtown Silver Spring , was the final event of DMV Food Recovery Week . Chef Jennifer O’Brien, representing
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“The pandemic brought to light how fragile our [local food] supply system is,” notes Nazirahk Amen, Purple Mountain Organics farmer, who sees how supporting our local food system is vital to our community’s health and well-being. That’s why he participates in the Montgomery County Farm to Food Bank (F2FB) program . The program — a collaboration between Manna Food Center , Montgomery County Food Council , and the Montgomery County Office of Agriculture — started in summer 2020,
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The Montgomery County Farm to Food Bank program , born last year at the height of the global pandemic to help both farmers and people who are food insecure, was an idea that continues to flourish. Thanks to Montgomery County and Greater Washington Community Foundation , Manna Food Center received a grant to purchase freshly harvested produce, eggs, and meat from local farms. These products are then donated to
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By Cheryl Kollin, Program Director, Community Food Rescue   The one-year anniversary of the COVID-19 pandemic provides a point in time to reflect on how this global crisis has jolted each of us personally and drastically affected our community.  In her article for Food Tank, Food (In)Security and Waste: Lessons Learned from the Pandemic , author Marie Mourad, PhD, offers insightful observations about the
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In the past year of the global pandemic, we have learned a lot about COVID-19 and about how quickly and dramatically our world can change. Sadly, some food businesses have had to close permanently. Others have found ways to stay open, keep their workers employed, and keep their customers and workers safe. Two local small
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