 This is Dennis McMahon and welcome to Positively Vermont and today my guest is John Sales the CEO of the Vermont Food Bank Welcome John. Thank you Dennis glad to be here. First of all John tell us a little bit about yourself. Well Dennis I have lived in Vermont for 20 years I worked for state government for about 10 of those years and a couple different capacities for doing utility regulation And then working at the agency of natural resources But 10 years ago. I got this amazing opportunity to lead the Vermont Food Bank And it's just it's been the best job I ever had. That's great Well tell us about the Vermont Food Bank itself about its history and how it came about. Sure the the food banks been around since about 1986 When food banks were popping up all over the country basically the need for for food at food shelves and soup kitchens everywhere was increasing and The organizations all got together and said wow we need to be able to source more food. So they created these larger organizations Which we call food banks. So we're the only food bank in Vermont as I said we've been around since 1986 and we serve both directly and people in Vermont and through a network of 215 Food shelves meal sites senior centers homeless shelters after school programs, you know places like Feeding Chittenden, which is just down the street from where we're filming and the brand-new South Burlington Food Shelf Undorsed Street. That's great. Approximately how many people does the food bank serve annually? Well through our partners and directly we'll serve almost one in four Vermonters over a hundred and fifty thousand people it seems like a lot but You know hunger is Hunger is an economic issue. It's it's families who have to make trade-offs in their budgets about am I going to Be able to pay the whole mortgage this month or or buy enough food Is the car broken down or do I need new winter tires or this time of year? Do I have to fill the oil tank? so there are choices and Food is a part of your budget that you can skimp on and so sometimes, you know mom and dad will say well We'll have to just make sure the kids get fed and we'll do what we can Tell us a little bit about something that's mentioned in your website and something. I've heard a lot about In the national media this concept of food insecurity. Yeah, well food insecurity is is a Government term and it's it basically means that you don't have the means to consistently have Enough nutritious food in your household to live an active and healthy lifestyle So that means, you know parents having the right food. They need to be able to to go to work and perform to kids. We know Brain development is is intensely affected by having enough and proper food for kids You ask any teacher they will tell you they know the kids who are hungry They're the ones who are complaining about stomach aches They're the ones who fidget in their seats and can't pay attention. They're the ones that just Aren't able to focus on what's happening in the classroom. What about the quality of nutrition, you know More and more we're we're understanding the relationship between good health and The right foods so the food bank our vision for Vermont is one where everyone has access to enough food every day Where everyone is healthy and everyone takes action to end hunger and poverty and that healthy part is really important You know when you go to the grocery store It's that the perimeter of the store where it's the the fresh vegetables and the meat counter That's also the most expensive part of the store, but it's the most important part of the store for our health We have to be able to eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and lean meats and low-fat dairy in order to To to be happy in our lives Can you give us an idea of the the scope in terms of the number of people involved in the food bank and sure how it Operates sure of course of the year. Yeah, we have 60 full-time employees Or a statewide organization as you said so we have a facility a distribution center in Berry We have one in Rutland and one in Brattleboro and from all of those Our trucks go out every day delivering food to To our partners the food shelves and meal sites, but also doing direct distribution programs One that we really love is called veggie van go It's basically a farmers market that we set up at schools and at hospitals all across the state So we have we do 10 at serving 16 schools and we are at 10 of the 15 hospitals Now we're hoping to expand that and like talk about that in a minute But it's basically a beautiful fun environment Lots of beautiful signage. There's people there welcoming you there's cooking demonstrations And there's food cooking and great smells and you can go through the line And if you're a person who who for some reason can't afford the kinds of fresh food that you you need in your diet You can show up there and and go shopping. That's great Do you have any kind of needs assessment or any any requirements? So when when people come to to our veggie van goes We just we just trust that they're there because they need it my experience is that People people will People will do what they need to do to take care of themselves and their families And if they don't really need to go to veggie van go they don't So some people say well, what if somebody who doesn't deserve it shows up well what I say is if if You know 90% of the people who are there really can't afford those fresh fruits and vegetables and 10% maybe could Who cares? Yeah, well, we'll let those people have some nice carrots and potatoes and onions Maybe they'll say something good or maybe they'll say something that will get someone else interested, right? That's really a wonderful attitude. I think Making it this a partnership Well, and you know the people going to veggie van go or your local food shelf. They're all our neighbors And as I said, there's it's an economic issue, you know, it's it's not it's not it They're not lesser people. They're not different people. They're our neighbors They just can't afford enough food on the table this week Are you been around for quite a while and do you see any particular issues or problems that are coming up this year? You know the the biggest issues I'm seeing are policy issues at the federal level So there's been another number of proposed rule changes which will decrease federal support for food program so people maybe Know what food stamps are well federally. It's called the SNAP program and in Vermont It's called Three Squares Vermont and there's been a couple of proposals that would pretty draft dramatically reduce the funding for that program Now for every meal that the food bank can help provide on somebody's table Three Squares Vermont provides nine meals. So it's a much bigger and much more important effort So we spent a lot of time advocating to make sure both here in Vermont and at the federal level That that the Three Squares Vermont program is strong Well, tell us about this for monitors feeding for monitors program. Yeah, I'm very excited. We you know the food bank about Distribute, you know, what is what's a pound of food? But last year was almost 12 million pounds of food But about a little over 2 million pounds of that was fresh food And a lot of that comes from Vermont farms and Vermont farmers by donation So the farmers are are very generous, you know, they grow food in their fields if it's not going to sell They want to make sure someone's eating it and they'll call the Vermont food bank but we also purchase a lot of produce and We we purchase a lot of it from from other places around the country and we have connections through our national organization But we realize how important it is For the the folks who are coming to veggie van goes are going to a food shelf to get the freshest Most delicious food and that's food grown in Vermont so the last couple years we've been partnering with Vermont farms and actually Purchasing Vermont grown produce first quality produce and distributing that throughout the state It's we we contract with the farmers before they plant their seeds and say we want, you know 5,000 pounds of onions or 20,000 pounds of acorn squash And so the farmers know what they're going to plant They know they have a contract with the food bank and they can plan for the future and maybe expand their farming operations because You know, well, I know I can I have this $10,000 sale to the food bank So I can take a little chance and and plant something new and try a new market I see also that in this for monitors feeding for monitors program that there's a local Component to it and does that mean that you might do it in one county and or do you take it from one part of the state? To the other part of the state well, yeah, we we're contracting with farmers from all different regions in the state Including some here in Chittenden County in Rutland County in the Northeast Kingdom Most of the food stays really local right in the communities some of it, you know, if it's if there's 20,000 pounds of onions It's not all gonna necessarily stay in the community and we make sure that it gets where it needs to be I think an important thing about Vermonters feeding Vermonters is is It really is that win-win-win, you know It's creating new customers for local foods because the folks who are trying these Farm fresh Vermont foods are then going to the store and and maybe buying them, you know an example would be You know a mom who's who has a couple kids Maybe isn't gonna buy that expensive broccoli because what if the kids don't like it? But if you go to veggie van go and try the local farmers broccoli and take it home and the kids love it Next time you go to the store, you're much more likely to buy that and and have a connection to local Vermont food It's important though that the Vermont food bank is buying this food from the farmers So one of the ways we we want to Help finance this work is by going to the state of Vermont and saying hey state This is a win-win-win. It's a win for The folks who can't afford fresh fruits and vegetables It's going to keep down health care costs as people eat more healthily It's it's going to support the farmers and the work that they're doing in our communities We'd like you to contribute to that work. So the food bank is going to be asking the legislature to make a $500,000 appropriation to actually pay the farmers to purchase that food and distribute it throughout our network You can learn more. I know the the websites up there at Feedingvermonters.org we love to have people contact their local legislators and tell them We really support some funding for the food bank to make sure that Everyone in Vermont gets to eat fresh local food. That's great. That's a bill That's going to be coming up in the next session. That's right we're going to be we're going to be there starting in January talking to legislators and Getting some enthusiasm around funding Vermonters feeding Vermonters and the grant is $500,000. That's what we're asking for You don't always get what you ask for but We're willing to talk That's great. Well, tell us somebody the other sources of funding now that we're on that topic sure how you This seems to me to be you know a lot of people have an image perhaps of a food bank or a food shelf or Maybe something they see at their church or or a library and they seem to be all mixed together And but you really organize it. This is this is like a real like assembly line almost well That's our that's our role in the community is to to make sure that that You know that the whole chain is taken care of you know from the farm It comes to the food bank. We make sure that the food is is well presented and of high quality Pass it on to our local food shelves where people can come or through our veggie van Gogh program through direct distribution It's You know you asked about funding the Right now the state of Vermont Funds the food bank At about 1% of our operating budget. It's about $84,000 It's much less than a lot of our neighboring states like New York and Massachusetts and and Maine or Do a better job of helping fund their food banks. That's one of the reasons We're going to ask the legislature for some more support here But the the vast majority of the funding for all this work comes from people in Vermont from from families from older Vermonters From small family foundations and some of the businesses here They make sure that that we're here to feed our neighbors every year You know, there's different ways you can give You can sign up and be a sustaining monthly donor And have a withdrawal from your checking account or on your credit card An interesting way to give and think about it is what we call plan giving or putting a bequest in your will You think well, I'm not rich. I'm not gonna, you know be leaving millions of dollars You know a lot of the bequests we get are a couple thousand dollars But it makes a huge difference and it doesn't take much time to do that That's amazing only 1% comes from the government right now or the state government. That's right That's a most people think something of this nature where you know the image might be Giving things away, you know, then I think it's all government, but it's not. Yeah Some people actually think that we're a state government organization But no our food bank and food banks across the country Are you know funded by generous donors? You know, I spent a lot of my time talking to donors about the impact, you know and telling the stories You know actually if you go to our website vtfoodbank.org you can read a lot of stories But one we've been highlighting is Lottie who's a woman, you know has a daughter and just Different jobs she's had and she moved to Maine to try and further her career and things didn't work out and she came back and Just some some really amazing Generosity of strangers has really touched Lottie's heart And going to the food shelf and getting food That's come through the Vermont food bank has really made a difference in her life and her family's life You mentioned something about an affiliation with a national group. Tell us about that so we're a member of the Feeding America Network, which is 200 food banks across the country and Feeding America Helps us source food. So from the big national food companies the you know Kellogg's and General Mills and Conagra We can source donations through Feeding America They also do a lot of national advocacy for us. We were talking about advocacy. So We have a great congressional delegation on hunger issues the our senators and and our representative are Doing the right things to try and make sure that that our neighbors in Vermont are getting fed But it takes a real coordinated effort and Feeding America has a great Office in DC that that does advocacy on behalf of all the food banks across the country And are they looking for support or are they having issues with that? ability to serve you serve the network Yeah, you know in it's it's always you're always working hard to raise the funds to to meet your mission and There's always more that you can do, you know, I think that's something we struggle with at the food bank For as much as we're able to do by the generosity of the people that support our work There's so much more that we can do And we're always looking to how do we do things a little bit different? How do we do things better? I mean we look at look at the barriers to people being able to access food it's It's rural isolation. It's transportation. It's jobs So how do we how do we partner with other organizations and efforts that are helping meet those needs housing? And and make sure that food is a component of what they're doing, you know bringing the food that we have To people where they are So we like to say People should be able to get food where they live work Play and learn and that's our goal. That's right. Well great distances to get it. That's right That's part of the other problem transportation. That's it's a huge issue not only in Vermont, but in every rural part of this country and what How do you get the information about this a lot of people again? A lot of people might think this is just something on the corner or maybe this is something that our church does once a year How do you get this out to people? And by being on positively Vermont, thank you for having me And also, you know, I'm all over the state all the time talking to people talking to to you know Rotary clubs or community groups or Or just individuals who might be interested Where we have a really robust social media presence So if you friend us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter, you can learn a lot about what's happening at the Vermont food bank You can sign up for our newsletter We'll email you our newsletter quarterly it tells wonderful stories about the people in Vermont who are being touched by the work that's supported by by all of our all of our funders and other supporters And and really really Dennis, it's that's the big challenge a lot of people don't Understand or realize the extent of the struggle for food security that that people just Are really making those hard decisions those trade-offs and sometimes that trade-off is that there's not enough food on the table Where I always believe that we're We're missing tremendous human potential when people don't have a food to eat. They're not thinking about anything else and you know who we're here at at channel 17 and it's all about Civic engagement and it's all about getting involved in your community But if you have to if you were thinking about where's your next meal going to come from how am I going to feed my kids tomorrow? You're not engaged in civic life, and I I think that's something that we really underestimate Yeah, so that's a very good point. So you're you're involving other organizations in this state And we're like more to get involved with your organization. Absolutely. We're always looking to partner We know the the food bank can't meet our mission alone This is this is about everyone coming together That's great. So at the end of the year tell us your plans maybe for the next three or four months So we're heading into the the holiday season, which is a time when people really think about hunger, you know you think about Maybe Thanksgiving or Christmas volunteering at the local food shelf or or meal site doing that that holiday Thanksgiving meal but I really want people to know that hunger is an issue year-round and It's really important to To support both the food bank and your local food shelf or meal site financially Because we rely on that support and a lot of that comes in during this part of the year But for for volunteering and other types of support for advocating to remember that it might be more important In the end of February or the middle of June to think about Volunteering at your local food shelf or or at the Vermont food bank If you go to our website VT food bank org you can click on the volunteer button and see the all the opportunities Of the fact we were talking about fresh food in Vermont farmers during the summer Particularly late summer we do gleaning programs here. We work out of the intervail actually a great partner and Volunteers will actually go out into farmers fields and harvest food that wouldn't otherwise be harvested and it'll go that day To your neighbors who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford it. That's great. Well, John Thank you very much for appearing on Positivity Vermont and we wish you the best of luck in the future And we hope to have you back Whenever The need arises to make sure that more people know about this wonderful work you're doing. Thank you Dennis. It's a pleasure to be here Thank you. This is Dennis McMahon. My guest has been John sales the CEO of the Vermont food bank Thank you for watching