Guest Author
In the face of continuously rising food prices, more than 4 million Floridians often find themselves having to choose less healthy food options because they’re more affordable, or foregoing meals altogether. Farm Share is committed to helping these Floridians receive life-sustaining food by salvaging unsold, healthy and nutritious produce and other food products and making sure this food reaches the tables of our most underserved communities.
Since 1991, Farm Share has actively combated food insecurity across Florida, remaining at the forefront of efforts to close the hunger gap. Our mission is that no Floridian goes hungry, and no food goes to waste. We also act as a first responder in the aftermath of major storms and natural disasters.
To carry out its mission, Farm Share relies on the commitment and dedication of countless farmers, donors, volunteers, employees — and most importantly, the Florida Legislature. For more than 20 years, the Legislature has partnered with (and invested in Farm Share to feed hungry families, children, seniors, and individuals in need from Pensacola to Key West.
This investment has helped generate and distribute over 1 billion pounds of food to Floridians since Farm Share’s inception.
Farm Share acquires, stores, transports, and distributes its donated food at a low cost of just 13 cents per pound. For every $10 invested, the organization generates nearly 77 pounds of food, or the equivalent of 64 meals. This efficiency allowed Farm Share to turn the $6.5 million invested by the Legislature last year into 50 million pounds of food, with a fair market value of nearly $90 million — a return on investment 14 times over.
In total, when considering all funding sources, we were able to distribute nearly 100 million pounds of food last fiscal year.
Farm Share would like to recognize and commend the Florida Legislature and its leadership for its continued long-term commitment to addressing food insecurity in Florida. Forward-thinking leaders dedicated record operational funding to food banks during the COVID-19 pandemic and decades-high inflation. These operational dollars are needed to meet increased demand for food banking services, including front-line workers (nurses, teachers, small-business owners, and hospitality workers) who are asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed.
It also comes at a time when food banks are being hit by the same decades-high inflation, causing the cost of operations to skyrocket.
The 13 cents per pound figure cited above was just 8 cents a pound a few years ago. The cost of fuel, utilities, labor, and rent have increased dramatically. Without additional funds to offset these expenses, our services would have to be cut, meaning less food available to distribute and more hungry Floridians, seniors, and children without access to food. Thanks to the Florida Legislature, this has been avoided so far.
The funds provided by the Legislature have also ensured that Farm Share had the resources needed to deliver more than 25 semi-trucks of aid (water, MREs, and other supplies) to the Florida Gulf Coast within 10 days after Hurricane Idalia made landfall last August.
Similarly, in 2022, Farm Share delivered nearly twice that number of semi-trucks to those counties directly affected by Hurricane Ian, and before that, responded with help to the victims of Hurricanes Michael and Irma, the government shutdown, and the Surfside condo collapse.
This Legislative Session, it is imperative that the Florida Legislature continue to dedicate the funding necessary to ensure that Farm Share and its food distribution partners have the resources they need to continue feeding the hungry, as well as to continue responding to regional and statewide disasters.
With the Legislature’s continued investment and Farm Share’s efficient operations model, together we can generate more food and make a bigger impact than by working alone.
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Stephen Shelley is president and CEO of Farm Share, Inc., Florida’s homegrown food bank.
