Dairy Farmers of America and Feeding America have teamed up combat food insecurity. DFA is raising money so it can donate commercial refrigerators for food pantries across its regional areas. The pantries will fill those units with donated milk.
Feeding America conducted a survey of food pantries across the country in 2014. More than 95 percent of agencies answered that they don’t receive enough milk donations to meet demand. In fact, most agencies receive less than one gallon of milk per person per year! It’s such a travesty because milk is loaded with important vitamins and nutrients.
But it’s difficult to remedy. Milk has to be refrigerated. Commercial units are expensive and cost money to operate. So even if donors thought to donate milk, the food pantry has to have a way to keep it.
That’s where Dairy Farmers of America steps in. Since 2020, DFA has raised $950,000 and provided 45 commercial units to Feeding America food banks. And it has stocked those units with 36.4 million servings of milk!
As some of my readers know, I’m involved with Cultivate Food Rescue, a nonprofit in South Bend, Indiana that rescues perishable foods and distributes it to the food insecure in our community. Cultivate utilizes massive refrigerators and freezers to safely store and save the perishable food it collects. So I know how quickly that coveted real estate fills up. I appreciate that DFA is helping supply not only the milk, but also a way to keep it.
We live in a country of abundance. But not everyone has access to that abundance, including the 12 million children that are considered food insecure. I’m happy to support farmers and related organizations working to fix that.
You can support the cause by donating here.
(H/t to AGDAILY for initially highlighting these efforts.)
