Our annual Impact Report serves as an important organizational touchstone – a reflection on a year of community engagement and advancing food equity and justice. It tells a summarized story of where we were, what we did, and what we learned. And it charts the course for where we aim to go in realizing our vision that everyone should have access to the food they need.
Stories of Change
Our 2023 Impact Report tells the story of how we worked together toward change, from equipping neighborhood food shelves to meet record visits, to supporting the next generation of farmers, to bringing affordable groceries to more people where they are:
Big River Farms
Meet Bai Vue, who just completed his first year of training at Big River Farms, our incubator farm near Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota, that provides farmers access to land, farm resources, and education to build their businesses, learn, and grow sustainable, organic foods. Last year we supported the work and success of 16 farm teams!
Twin Cities Mobile Market & Fare For All
Learn more about our innovative Twin Cities Mobile Market and Fare For All programs, which work to reduce barriers to accessing groceries. Last year, these programs brought affordable groceries to 57 sites in urban, suburban, small town and rural communities. And the mobile market is serving an average of 750 people each month.
Food Shelves and Meal Programs
Feel the impact of our distribution to 188 community-based food shelves and meal programs through Ivy’s story. Ivy, who moved to Minnesota from Guyana with her husband, now lives with her son and his wife and their four children. They find a community of support at Friendship Community Services (FCS), one of our partners. “It’s like a little grocery store. I get everything I need. I want to put something on the table every day to feed my grandkids.” Eating and talking together “makes me feel good inside,” Ivy shared.
By the Numbers
Across our programming areas and with support and participation from so many donors, volunteers, allies, collaborators, partners and friends, together we:
- Provided nearly 6.5 million meals to our community, an increase of 56,000 from the previous year.
- Partnered with 188 community-based emergency food shelves and meal programs for responsive hunger relief.
- Distributed 139% more local food and 132% more culturally connected foods than the previous year.
We welcomed 2,193 volunteers who contributed 16,257 hours, the equivalent of almost eight full-time employees! The volunteer produce gleaners in particular, gleaned a total of 40,877 pounds of produce last year, saving it from going to waste and redirecting it to six local food shelves.
Looking Ahead
Importantly, last year we adopted new, three-year strategic goals thanks to input from food shelf participants, Twin Cities Mobile Market customers, farmers, and Fare For All users:
- We will actively engage in policy and advocacy to influence food systems change.
- We will deepen and diversify partnerships to collectively advance food justice.
- We will incorporate community voice and user input into all levels of the organization.
After you take a look back at last year’s story, we invite you to find the best way for you to support our strategic vision in the year ahead.
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