SOMERVILLE - Food insecurity has skyrocketed during the pandemic. Some organizations, like Somerville-based Food for Free, have gone from serving 2 million pounds of food a year to 7.5 million in just two years.
"I would say the hardest part of my job is not getting enough out of my truck to feed everyone," Food for Free logistics specialist Dominic Carter told WBZ-TV.
Dominique and I rode in the Food for Free truck as it collected food from local grocery stores and delivered it to area stores. Take food in the morning. Generally, products that grocery stores no longer want on their shelves because they are slightly damaged or expired but are still safe to eat.
"I hope the food I get is enough for them to feel comfortable at home and use the money I hope they get to invest in other important things like their kids, utilities, bills and rent." Carter explained.
When he gets up, he never knows how much food will be loaded into the truck at each stop. "We want to keep as much as possible," he said. "So if they flood this whole truck, we're 'cool.'
With a fleet of trucks and drivers, Food for Free says it specializes in coordinating food delivery logistics. Each week they transport 115,000 pounds of food from food banks and farmers to their main facilities.
The demand grew so much that we had to move three times. First, Free Food was located in the basement of a large shopping mall. After that, they were in 3,000 square feet, but outgrew it in six months. Now they're in 12,000 square feet, and even that's not enough because they have a trailer outside that carries all the food that doesn't fit inside.
“I think a lot of organizations are doing their best and unfortunately this is just the scratch. The pandemic has really highlighted a problem that has been going on for a long time and it is not going to improve anytime soon,” Food for Free Operation said. Director Ben Engel told WBZ.
They will deliver trucks full of food to community food distribution sites like the Cambridge Community Center. For them, they get 8,000 pounds of salvaged produce and a few free meals a week. They are among their largest partners, but support companies of all sizes.
"We sometimes bring in no more than 12 boxes of people," Engle said. "People are starving all over Massachusetts, so we're taking care of the little kids."
"People will say they're eating healthier than ever because they're coming to these stores because they're buying things they couldn't afford before," Zach Goldhammer, community outreach coordinator for the Cambridge Community Center, told WBZ : . .
Mills Free says there is "huge demand" for their services and the food they serve In response, they are looking for more volunteers to help pack food at their main facility in Somerville. If you're interested and have a few hours to spare, visit foodforfree.org to find volunteer opportunities.