CLFP Participating in Statewide Coalition to Promote Food Donations to Charity
Due to the high unemployment rate in many parts of the region, the demand for food often exceeds the supply at most of the food banks in the Central Valley. The California Association of Food Banks is looking to expand its network of contacts and to identify obstacles to increased donations. Many CLFP members already make generous donations to local groups but may not get enough credit for all their good works. Some companies would like to do more as a component of their corporate responsibility programs, but are not sure how to best participate. The California Department of Food and Agriculture is launching an initiative to reduce waste in the food system by promoting the donation of excess or un-harvested products.
CLFP is a member of a broad coalition of agricultural and food groups that are supporting efforts to increase donations to food banks and other feeding organizations during this holiday season, and throughout the year. CLFP is participating in this coalition to help our members learn about opportunities to donate food, identify barriers to increased donations, and to ensure that the contributions made by our members are recognized by policy makers.
CLFP staff recently distributed a brief survey to our Board of Directors regarding this issue and the information collected will help us ascertain how much product is typically donated, problems that are encountered in making donations, and what information or services might encourage firms to be more active in making donations. The individual survey results will be kept confidential and only used for aggregation purposes. The survey information should identify where the statewide coalition should focus its efforts to be most effective.
If you have any comments or suggestions regarding this issue, please contact Rob Neenan in the CLFP office.
Article
California League Of Food Producers