The Farmlink Project

We’re excited to announce that our Summer Internship Application is now live! This 10-week, paid, remote internship (20 hrs/week) is an opportunity for students eager to join an innovative team and drive positive change in the food system. We have multiple openings across our development, sustainability, and food program teams. For details on the program and available positions, check out the attached document. Applications are due March 24th at 5 PM PST! If you have any questions please email our Head Community and Student Programs, Stella ([email protected]) Apply here: https://lnkd.in/gJQF7TZa

Delicious-looking tomatoes were delivered to Hazel Green Food Project in Kentucky this week. Is it too early to say it's tomato season?

We’re not the only ones talking about the opportunity in our food surplus. Our friends at ReFED published a new report confirming that the amount of unsold surplus food has skyrocketed since the pandemic. In 2023, “surplus food rebounded to an alarming 73.9 million tons—31% of the food supply—valued at $382 billion.” Not only that, but surplus food is having a dramatic impact on the climate, with emissions equivalent to “driving 54 million cars… If all surplus food were grown in the same place, it would require 140 million acres of land—an area the size of California and New York combined.” This is a massive, massive amount of food—one-third of everything we grow. At Farmlink, we and our partners are dedicated to stopping surplus from going to waste and instead delivering it to communities, food banks, and churches—getting it onto tables instead of into landfills. Our surplus can be the solution to food insecurity across the country. Read more of ReFED's excellent report below.

We love to see successful shipments of produce across the country! Here are a few Farmlink deliveries in the last month: ?? Tomatoes to Cabwaylingo Presbyterian Church in West Virginia ?? Grapes to Preston County Youth Center in West Virginia ?? Water bottles to Altadena, California ?? Cucumbers and peppers to Food Bank of Delaware

287 phone calls. 5 million meals. One unstoppable community. We just sent over nine million pounds of food into LA. When the fires began earlier this year, we saw an incredible opportunity to support our hometown. We immediately jumped on calls with our partners to determine how much fresh food we could send to those in need. With the help of partners like Taylor Farms, Tony Robbins, Jefferies, The Wonderful Company, and many others, we were able to deliver thousands of pounds of fresh food with incredible urgency. Westside Food Bank—the site of Farmlink’s very first delivery in 2020—was ready to receive massive shipments and seamlessly organized distribution after distribution. Thank you for your support, resilience, and trust as we worked together to get food where it’s needed most.

When LA needed help, we were ready to respond. Now, even after the cameras leave and news cycles shift, we continue to support our hometown with fresh food and water. Watch the video below to see how our community has come together, once again to get food to those who need it most.?

Chef and Farmlink Brand Ambassador, Nick DiGiovanni, is donating 1 meal for every new YouTube subscriber TODAY! Subscribe here: https://lnkd.in/gE7hNw35 https://lnkd.in/gKRMBNFf

To continue supporting communities affected by the California wildfires, we are collaborating?with EcoTrove, an energy agent that lowers the cost of California power bills and transitions them to renewable energy. For every new EcoTrove sign-up over the next month, they will donate $50 to Farmlink to help us provide more meals for California wildfire victims.

We’re reporting back from an incredibly successful Community Convening event in West Virginia, which we were proud to cohost with the Appalachia Regional Food Business Center and USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture on January 16th. After working with the West Virginia Department of Agriculture to rescue nearly 18 million pounds of apples and distribute them to 27 states, particularly in collaboration with the West Virginia University Extension service to distribute millions of pounds of apples to rural, food-insecure communities in West Virginia, we knew a broader meeting across government, hunger-fighting nonprofits, and growers was critical for the future, as growers across the state and region continue to face a complete and total loss of process markets. At the event, USDA NIFA, USDA-Agricultural Marketing Service, US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS), USDA Rural Development, USDA Farm Service Agency, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, as well as the U.S. Small Business Administration shared important information and resources available to growers and other food businesses, including grants and other market access assistance. Stakeholders from across Appalachia came together as a community to share advice, reflect on 2024’s successes, and start to plan collaboratively with Farmlink for 2025. We’re excited to create longer-term solutions and partnerships that ensure surplus, farm-fresh food goes to feeding communities, helping us reduce waste, support farmers, and fight hunger.?

We're still moving large amounts of food and water into the LA area as we continue supporting fire relief efforts. On Wednesday we delivered Farm Fresh potatoes to Montrose Church in Pasadena, and today, coordinated cases of water to be distributed at Fair Oaks Burger in Altadena.