Navigating the Complexities of Food Logistics and Transportation

In eastern Wisconsin, one in 10 individuals is facing food insecurity, and it can affect people from all walks of life. 

Millions of Americans are just one job loss, missed paycheck or medical emergency away from experiencing real (and sometimes sustained) hunger. Feeding America is a nationwide network of over 200 food banks and 60,000 meal programs whose mission is to address this challenge.

Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, a branch of the Feeding America network, serves neighbors facing food insecurity across 35 Wisconsin counties. Elevity’s Focus on Outcomes podcast welcomed Aaron Rice, Chief Development Officer of Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin for a chat about the organization and how they use food logistics and transportation to bring food to people that need it most.

Rice credits his upbringing for his motivation for serving others. “I think it’s been something that’s been part of my DNA, since I was a kid. I volunteered at food pantries. My grandmother would take me along. And I remember carrying boxes out to people’s cars, making sure that they had food.”

Food Transportation Designed to Address Local Food Insecurity

Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin approaches ending food insecurity from multiple angles by making healthy food easier to access. Their network is aimed toward building a hunger-free America, focusing on four key areas of food insecurity:

• Food Access – Distributing food through programs like mobile pantries, food banks, etc.
• Food Rescue – Working with grocery stores, retailers and farmers to supply food banks with food that would otherwise go to waste.
• Disaster Response – Supporting before, during and after a disaster to help communities get food and emergency assistance.
• Hunger Research – Analyzing statistics to better understand the people and communities facing hunger.

As an integral part of the community, Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin provides resources for food transportation, “We work with local grocers and retailers. They’ll call us up and say, ‘Hey, we have an abundance of eggs,’ and then we’re able to recover that food,” says Rice. “The dignity around food is so important.”

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How Technology Helps Aid Food Logistics

Hunger research is an important, but often overlooked aspect of how to address the logistics needed to combat food insecurity. This research identifies trends that can be used to understand where the needs are and get surplus food to the people who need it most.

During the podcast interview, I wondered how technology impacts the work that Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin does.

“Technology helps to improve efficiencies. It’s not just about how do we get food, how quick do we get it or how do we move it from one place to the other. It’s about how can we get it in the doors, quicker,” says Rice.

The organization uses technology to more effectively plan food logistics routes. This could mean gathering the food from a retail partner and shipping it directly to a waiting food pantry – bypassing Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin’s warehouse and delivering fresher food, faster, to pantry clients. Or it could be used to map out the most efficient route for a driver to pick up food and bring it to one of Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin’s warehouses. Specialized software analyzes the data from across eastern Wisconsin and it’s used to determine the best way to collect surplus food and get it to the areas of greatest need.

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Volunteer Opportunities with Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin

Volunteering is an important aspect of any non-profit organization. But as noted on Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin’s website, volunteers are their secret ingredient!

I asked about volunteering opportunities during our interview and learned that there are a variety of ways to help the organization’s Milwaukee and Appleton campuses.

“Our team loves to say that we raise ‘food, funds and friends,’ because the ‘friends’ category is important and impactful especially around volunteerism,” says Rice. “Check out our website to learn more about our volunteer opportunities. Typically, we have two shifts per day. Up to 40 volunteers in the morning and another 40 in the afternoon.”

Some of the tasks that volunteers do, include packaging, labeling and sorting food donations, checking for food quality, sorting meat products and repacking bulk food products into family-sized portions.

If you’d like to learn more about Feeding America Eastern Wisconsin, we encourage you to visit their website at: feedingamericawi.org where you’ll find information on how to find help, volunteer opportunities, partnership opportunities, or to make a financial donation.

Like this interview? Thanks! We enjoy sharing stories about our Elevity clients, partners and community contacts making a positive impact. Subscribe to our podcast, Focus on Outcomes and you’ll be among the first to know when a new podcast episode debuts.