Every Mile, Every Minute
Earlier this month, we witnessed the most severe and extreme cuts to all manner of social services than any other time in modern history. As I wrote in March, even then, my senior leadership team and I had never seen anything like this. It is a crisis unlike anything else. We cannot ignore the immediate impacts, and we must plan for what’s to come. We need your support.
Spoonfuls has always been a safety net for the traditional safety net: food programs like food banks and pantries that are supplied in part through federal food purchasing programs and challenged whenever federal safety net programs like SNAP and WIC take a hit. I built the organization this way, perhaps not with this scenario in mind – but rather, to fill the need and, as we said for many years, to bridge the gap. The gaps get wider in any kind of emergency, we saw this during the height of the Covid crisis. When pantries and meal programs had tight budgets or could only get shelf-stable items from their other food sources, we were able to distribute fresh, healthy food to their organizations – at no cost.
Right now, we have to be prepared. These new laws establish a permanent emergency. For some programs not receiving food from local food banks or their traditional mainstays, we’ve become the core source of food, supporting and sometimes equipping their ability to give nutritious food to people in their communities who need it.
As food insecurity continues to rise in Massachusetts and traditional food access supports (like SNAP, which faces $290 billion in cuts after the signing of Trump’s budget bill) are weakened, we will continue to be a safety net. We can’t fully fill the gap that will be left behind by cuts to SNAP, but with your support, we can recover even more food.
We’ve often said that food is an opportunity. Food continues to be the #1 material in Massachusetts landfills, and now more than ever, we have to keep asking, “Who gets that opportunity?” Our work captures valuable, surplus food, while it’s still good to eat, ensuring that our neighbors and our community gets it – not landfills. Spoonfuls is already recovering more than 5+ million pounds of fresh food annually for our network of 200+ community partners, and that number is only rising.This is no time to waste.
When I wrote the Death By A Thousand Cuts blog months ago, I think all of us in the shared hunger relief space were already anticipating cuts and reductions in assistance. We couldn’t have seen just how extreme they would turn out to be. And so, we press on. A few ways we’ve been and continue to make the most of every mile and every minute include working to source additional food for programs that have seen reduced supply and greater demand. And honestly, that’s most of them. We’re also optimizing our routes and working with our partners to ensure we’re operating in the most efficient and effective way possible to reach as many communities and as many programs as we can in our current service area. It’s always been our focus, but now more than ever it is critical that we leave no good food behind. Especially now.
As you may have read, we’re gearing up for expansion to Southeastern Massachusetts (Bristol County, Bridgewater, and Brockton) this fall.
We continue to lend our voice and perspective to statewide coalition conversations aimed at building awareness of the ways federal and state policies impact people in our own backyards. I encourage you to read our blog posts Breaking through the Noise and What You Can Do. Both offer a simple breakdown and explanation of the cuts, the impact, and where you can get involved.
We are ready for what’s ahead. But to do more, we need additional support. And so, I’m asking you to help us get there. Please reach out to me and the team to learn more about what we’re doing to meet this moment, and how your support feeds people who need it right now.
Ashley Stanley
Founder & CEO
