Making More Produce Available at Vickery Meadow Food Pantry

NTFB and Temple Emanu-El hosted a produce pop-up at the Dallas pantry as it prepares to welcome a Produce Pod that will expand access to fruits and vegetables.

When you’re hungry, it’s tough to focus on anything else, says Carolyn, a neighbor who visits Vickery Meadow Food Pantry in Dallas.

A former Certified Nurse Assistant who lives on disability due to back problems related to her work, Carolyn says the pantry goods, milk and produce provided each week are the reason she has enough to eat at home.

“I’ve been coming here four or five months and I’m thankful,” she says. “If you’re hungry you can’t do anything.”

Vickery Meadow Food Pantry is a partner of the North Texas Food Bank that is open each week for neighbors living in the 75231, 75230, 75243 and 75238 zip codes. They serve around 600 families, or 1,500 people, each week, including a large population of immigrants and refugees who are new to Texas, says David Schulze, co-pantry stock manager. The all-volunteer team puts together boxes of food for anyone who visits the pantry during their hours, but because of limited cold storage, they don’t always have enough fresh produce for everyone.

That’s where the North Texas Food Bank team hopes a Produce Pod can help, says Rob Dolby, Senior Director of Community Partner Relations. “The pod acts as a capacity builder to get more produce to neighbors,” he says.

To test that out that theory, Rob, along with several members of the Community Parter Relations team, hosted a produce pop-up in October. Using produce from NTFB and harvested from the nearby Temple Emanu-El Jill Stone Community Garden, the team invited neighbors to walk by tables stocked with fruits and vegetables and select the items they wanted to take home.

Carolyn pulled a head of cabbage from a bin and said she loves frying it alongside sausage. Other neighbors selected potatoes, snake and bitter melon and various greens.  The greens and melons are among the items being grown at Temple Emanu-el and donated regularly to Vickery Meadow (find out more about that partnership here).

Ruth, a single mom to a 9- and 11-year-old, said her kids get excited when their box includes fruit and vegetables. Ruth works but says with the cost of housing, she can’t afford both rent and the healthy food she wants to feed her children.

“You have to put the kids first and make sure their nutrition is taken care of,” she says, adding that she is grateful for anything they receive. “They need it to grow and learn well.”

As Ruth made her way through the produce line, volunteers helped another family register to receive food. They just arrived in the U.S. legally a week ago and said they were thankful for fresh foods for their young children as they got their paperwork sorted out so they could begin working.

“I’m so grateful for your work,” says Javier, who picked out vegetables along with his 1 and 6-year-old.

NTFB’s Produce Pods are standalone, refrigerated storage trailers that have the capacity to hold four pallets, or about 20,000 meals, each week. Rob says they’re hoping to add one into the parking lot at Vickery Meadow soon.

Vickery Meadow also operates a clothing closet. Its volunteers say they feel a calling to help where they can. If a Produce Pod can support them in their mission to serve families and individuals in their community, they’ll welcome it.

“If somebody is hungry, we believe we have an obligation to feed them, regardless of where they come from or what their circumstances are,” David says.

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