OUISVILLE, Ky. — Food insecurity is a problem facing communities across the country, but the work combating it in Louisville has garnered national attention.
What You Need To Know
Dare to Care Food Bank is in Louisville’s West End
- Facility was renovated during the pandemic
- Food bank leaders from around the nation toured the facility Tuesday
- Dare to Care distributed 26 million pounds of food in 2021
Dare to Care Food Bank is in Louisville’s West End
Inside the brand new facility is a 15,000 square foot commercial kitchen. Executive Chef Teresa White oversees various programs here. A key priority is promoting healthy eating and education.
“Instead of spending your SNAP benefits on microwavable meals and TV dinners, we’re offering our clients a microwavable meal, but again, one that has nutrition at the baseline,” White said.
Fresh ingredients are sourced from Kentucky farms and delivered to clients in a way that reduces food waste. Chef White gives the example of giving out green beans that are frozen fresh. These can last much longer than if they were not frozen.
One way staff is getting nutritious food to those facing homelessness is through freeze drying meals, giving them very long shelf lives.
“There is grass fed beef, there is corn, black beans, homemade sauces, very nutrient dense and all anybody would need to do is just add water,” White said.
This hard work and dedication has also garnered the attention of Feed America, who oversees the nation’s food banks. During their annual conference, which is underway in Louisville, hundreds of food bank leaders toured Dare to Care.
“It’s really just remarkable what’s happening here in Louisville and that’s why we are here to see it,” Kathryn Strickland, chief network officer of Feeding America, said. “Across the country there are food banks that are reinvesting in facilities in order to meet just the surge of demand that we’ve seen over the last two years and so dare to care is a great model for food banks around the country.”
It’s these programs that Dare to Care CEO Vincent James says has served as a catalyst for change in the parkland neighborhood where their office is located. James says that medical offices have opened in the neighborhood recently and job service businesses are moving in soon.
In 2021, Dare to Care distributed over 26 million pounds of food to the Louisville community and has since expanded their services to anyone facing food insecurity in Louisville.