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Hunger Has No Home Here: Community Action Coalition Fights for Food Security

Dawn Bradshaw never thought she would be homeless, but in 2011 when the landlord of her Madison apartment sold the building, she struggled to find an affordable alternative that would also allow her 105-pound dog. She moved into a camper on a friend’s property in Reedsburg and tackled the daunting task of figuring out what services could help her stay on her feet. Facing the embarrassment and stigma that shrouds food insecurity, she stepped into a food pantry for the first time.

“It takes so much energy to walk into a food pantry. I kept thinking that this can’t be for me; this isn’t how it’s supposed to be,” Bradshaw says.

She was part of the more than 10% of Dane County residents struggling for their next meal in 2011, a number that declined to around 8% in 2019 then jumped back to 10% during the pandemic in 2020, as those who were one paycheck away from going hungry began losing jobs.

Now, as the Food Security Program Director for Community Action Coalition (CAC) for South Central Wisconsin, Bradshaw says that time in her life pushed her to this place to help others.

Bradshaw explains that the CAC fits in the middle of the food security supply chain. As a food bank, the CAC receives or purchases bulk and packaged food from food wholesalers like Certco, food retailers like Festival Foods, and restaurants like Panera, Ian’s Pizza and the Great Dane. The food is then distributed for free to food pantries, shelters, meal programs, senior housing and more.

Started in 1966 as the Community Action Commission of Dane County and the City of Madison, the group added Jefferson County in 1992 and Waukesha County in 1996. CAC is one of 16 agencies that are part of the Wisconsin Community Action Program Association (WISCAP). The program focuses on all aspects of anti-poverty services, from food and housing security, to health and wellness education and financial literacy.

“As a food bank we have a larger purchasing power since we’re buying in larger quantities,” Bradshaw says. “As opposed to a food pantry or meal program that may only be buying for 300 people. That’s one reason we offer all of our services for free to our network—it helps the programs we work with focus on providing food to those who need it instead of purchasing it.”

She notes that not every food bank is structured the same way. For example, CAC serves three counties with all food offered at zero cost. Second Harvest of South Central Wisconsin—also a food bank—serves 16 counties as part of Feeding America, the country’s largest network of food banks, and charges pantries a nominal fee.

Also, no food bank or pantry can charge those in need for the food they receive. However, food banks can charge the pantries and meal programs that receive food a maintenance fee of up to 19 cents per pound for collecting, storing and distributing the food. According to its website, about 30% of Second Harvest’s food distributed to its partner agencies do not incur shared maintenance fees.

It takes so much energy to walk into a food pantry. I kept thinking that this can’t be for me; this isn’t how it’s supposed to be…

CAC relies on funding from federal grants, United Way–Dane County and private donations to waive all fees for its nearly 60 partner sites in Dane County, plus various locations in Waukesha and Jefferson County. Thirty-nine of those sites in Dane County are part of The Emergency Food Assistance Program, or TEFAP, funded by the USDA. CAC is the administrator of this program for south central Wisconsin.

“TEFAP supplements the diets of low-income Americans by providing shelf-stable food at no cost,” says Bradshaw. CAC receives from five to seven truckloads of food from the USDA each month and distributes it to their network of pantries and programs. TEFAP funds also pay the salaries of the small staff of eight at CAC.

Since the food comes from the USDA, Bradshaw says it’s 100% American-produced, but it comes with extra layers of regulations related to storage, employee and volunteer training, and how quickly the food is distributed.

The sites themselves have to make sure there is food available at all times at no cost to recipients since it is for emergency situations. And while it would be easy to box up meals to move the product faster, Bradshaw says that TEFAP is very clear about giving folks a choice in what they receive.

“They’re trying to remove the stigma of going to a food pantry and just taking what you’re given. They want to make sure it feels more like grocery shopping,” she says.

The other goal of providing choice is to reduce waste. If an item goes in a box that a recipient doesn’t want, it often goes in the trash or comes back as a donation. By allowing volunteers or staff from partner sites to choose what they stock their shelves with, the hope is that waste is reduced. And given that many households that face food insecurity are minorities (18.7% in the Black community and 28% of Latinos live in poverty across the U.S.), CAC is putting a focus on making available what Bradshaw calls “culturally competent” food choices.

“Everyone that does this work is doing it for the right reasons, but sometimes they don’t have the tools or knowledge to choose food for their specific populations,” says Bradshaw. “I try to reinforce with the groups we work with that they need to choose foods based on who they are serving, not their own likes and dislikes.”

Besides the truckloads of food received for TEFAP, CAC also has a team of over 50 volunteers called Gleaners that handle food recovery. Most food banks rely on food recovery from grocery stores, restaurants and local businesses to stock their shelves, and CAC is no different. However, Bradshaw says that most of the food recovery by the Gleaners is delivered directly to non-TEFAP locations in their network like YWCA, St. Vincent de Paul and the Salvation Army. Last year CAC recovered over 25,000 pounds of food from restaurants and businesses, and over 247,000 pounds just from retail food stores like Festival.

“Yes, sometimes it’s a little banged up, but it’s important to know that while some of the perishable food might be past its sell date, it’s not past the use by date,” says Bradshaw. “Some people think we’re kind of a garbage disposal, but our volunteers and staff always make sure that we’re providing food that we ourselves would eat. We want to make sure that there’s dignity involved.”

Getting all of this food out the door and onto pantry shelves or into meal program kitchens is the responsibility of Catie Badsing, Sustainable Food System Coordinator at CAC. She coordinates two teams of two that work every day to deliver to pantries and shelters across the three-county area. A few larger pantries may get two truckloads in a day, while other smaller locations like churches or community centers are loaded onto one truck.

In addition to a complex distribution network for TEFAP locations and large pantries, CAC also opens its warehouse doors to smaller locations like The Beacon and Badger Rock Neighborhood Center.

Kipp Thomas, culinary program director at Badger Rock, says that coming from the restaurant business, he had no idea that organizations like CAC existed.

“When I started here five years ago, I didn’t know that you could go to a place and they have food that is donated or they purchased it, and they give it to you for free,” says Thomas.

The partnership with CAC grew from Thomas receiving food from CAC to prepare for the monthly family nights at Badger Rock, to a full pantry program during the pandemic.

“As the numbers [of COVID-19 cases] started rising and schools went virtual, we began to realize that students who rely on meals at school may not be getting any meals at all. So we started brainstorming and asking our families what they needed,” says Thomas. Then they turned to CAC.

Typically, Thomas could choose from a specific area of food designated for locations that aren’t part of TEFAP at CAC. Due to an increase in donated and gleaned foods at the food bank, Bradshaw was able to offer him free supplies from the non-TEFAP free food bank. Thomas drove away with a Suburban packed with meat, produce and other pantry items that were overflowing at CAC because of the disruption in the food supply chain during the pandemic.

Food insecurity is deeply personal, and impacts an entire community. Our Food Bank supports local efforts to make sure everyone can access free food with dignity. No one should go hungry in the wealthiest country in the world.

Thomas and his team got to work setting up a full pantry at Badger Rock, inventorying their items and allowing families to choose what they wanted in their bags.

“We started with 37 families a week and it trickled up to close to 100 families every week,” says Thomas. “I felt so privileged to have that relationship with CAC; we couldn’t have done it without them.”

Thomas happily shows his gratitude by using the kitchen space at Badger Rock to help CAC repackage bulk food items that are sourced from farmers and wholesalers, or to turn single food components into prepared meals.

From the start to the end of the food security supply chain, organizations like CAC also help individuals and families navigate the applications and requirements for programs like FoodShare, Wisconsin’s federally-funded food assistance program, formerly known as food stamps. CAC takes it a step further and also manages the Double Dollars program, which allows money withdrawn at area farmers markets by FoodShare participants to be matched by CAC, up to $25 for use at that market.

“I love the Double Dollars program. It gets people to go to farmers markets that wouldn’t normally go because they think they can’t afford it,” says Bradshaw. “It benefits everyone, including the vendors. Our low-income folks feel like they’re part of the neighborhood community, plus they have access to fresh fruits and vegetables.”

After the market season, Willy St. Co-op offers the Double Dollars program and helps fund the program through the reusable bag credits offered in their Madison stores. Bradshaw says these monetary donations are the best way to help the CAC.

“Food insecurity is deeply personal, and impacts an entire community. Our Food Bank supports local efforts to make sure everyone can access free food with dignity. No one should go hungry in the wealthiest country in the world.”

Bradshaw says she is inspired everyday by her team—most of whom have used the services the CAC supports—as they work tirelessly everyday to help reduce poverty and hunger.

“Food insecurity is deeply personal, and impacts an entire community. Our Food Bank supports local efforts to make sure everyone can access free food with dignity. No one should go hungry in the wealthiest country in the world,” says Amber Duddy, Executive Director.

If you are interested in supporting the work of CAC of South Central Wisconsin, please visit CACSCW.org to learn more.

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