By- Allie Wilson, Director of Operations: Northeast and California
Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash
FoodRecovery.org works across the United States to prevent food from going to waste by increasing food donations, and we have been fortunate enough to collaborate with food recovery organizations across the world.
We wanted to take a trip and talk about how FoodRecovery.org has been able to share our mission and work with organizations fighting hunger across the globe!
Community Engagement Exchange
Our first international connection began through the IREX CEE Program. IREX’s Community Engagement Exchange program is a leadership development program for young professionals between the ages of 21-27. Young professionals all over the world come to the United States to spend 3 months collaborating with civil society organizations, developing their personal and professional skills. FoodRecovery.org, then MEANS Database, was fortunate enough to host two CEE Fellows.
Our fantastic fellows were Jeffery and Espoir, from Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo, respectively. We were so fortunate to have Jeffery and Espoir join our team for 3 months. They taught us about their experiences creating innovative solutions to waste in their communities, shared their perspectives on issues surrounding food security, and introduced us to their cultures.
The Zambia Food Bank
CEE also connected us with Enock Mwewa, one of the founders of The Zambia Food Bank. Allie met Enock Mwewa through the CEE End of Program Workshop in Washington, DC back in 2022. Enock shared his idea to start a food bank and food recovery program in his home country of Zambia.
Allie was able to spend 2 weeks in Zambia through the CEE’s Community Engagement Project (CEP) Exchange, where she collaborated with The Zambia Food Bank team on program structuring, identifying potential partners, and even visiting some inspirational projects like Organic Farm 7. Allie continues to collaborate with The Zambia Food Bank and we’re proud to watch them grow!
Banco de Alimentos de Viçosa- The Food Bank of Viçosa
Our most recent international collaborator has been the Banco de Alimentos de Viçosa in Viçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil! Organized by researchers from the Federal University of Viçosa, the Banco de Alimentos de Viçosa (Food Bank of Viçosa in English) aims to provide nutritious food to community members facing food insecurity across Viçosa and the Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais.
FoodRecovery.org became involved with this project when Allie’s former professor at UFV, Silvia Eloisa Priore, learned about our organization’s work during a visit from Allie. Dr. Priore and her team of nutritionists and agroecologists at UFV have been working on food security initiatives across Brazil for years. After learning about a grant available for extension activities through the Brazilian Federal Agency for Support and Evaluation of Graduate Education, Dr. Priore invited Allie to participate in the formation of a project proposal that would kick-start the Banco de Alimentos de Viçosa. The project was approved and the work to build the food bank has begun!
FoodRecovery.org’s mission, process, and our experiences were shared to the Banco de Alimentos team through a presentation by Allie. Other partners from The Ohio State University and University of Maryland led a leadership course to help participants in the formation of the Banco de Alimentos de Viçosa. We at FoodRecovery.org are looking forward to further collaborating with the Banco de Alimentos de Viçosa team and our fellow American partners at Ohio State University and the University of Maryland, as well as encouraging food recovery and food security in the Zona da Mata of Minas Gerais, Brazil.
A Global Movement with Local Impact
As FoodRecovery.org continues to grow our mission of wasting less food and feeding more people, we hope to continue strengthening the global movement of individuals and organizations fighting food waste and food insecurity. We hope that our global reach can result in a local impact within communities across the world!