Foodbank Searches for New Sources of Food
 In the past decade, a
combination of manufacturing and distribution efficiencies has resulted in a significant
decline in food industry donations to food banks, including the St. Louis Area Foodbank. Due to streamlining efforts in the late 1990’s, food manufacturers are making fewer errors, which translates into less surplus food to give to the poor. On the grocery side, checkout scanners now provide such detailed, timely sales figures, manufacturers are now able to fine-tune their production to match demand. And, dented or out-of-date cans and cartons, which used to be an important source of food for hunger relief, are now a multi-billion-dollar industry for deep-discount food outlets. Last year, for example, the Foodbank handled around 343,000 fewer pounds of food from Kraft and 26,000 fewer pounds from Keebler. For the last five years, we averaged about 13 trailer loads each year of cereal, about 260,000 pounds. In 2002, we received just a little better than 100,000 pounds of cereal...a nearly 60 percent decrease in cereal alone. "Manufacturers are still incredibly supportive of hunger relief," says Frank Finnegan, St. Louis Area Foodbank Executive Director. "They just don’t have as much available to donate. So, we have to think about how to get food in different ways." Those new ways will come with a price tag, as the Foodbank works with its member agencies to develop the infrastructure needed to handle and store new food sources such as pallets of fresh produce. In the meantime, we rely even more heavily on less predictable local food donations, such as food drives, which currently account for 12% of the food we distribute. If your company would like to inquire about making a donation to the St. Louis Area Foodbank, or if you'd like to sponsor a food drive in your school, church or community, please contact: Lenora Young |
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