By Emmanuela Douyon

I didn’t expect that one of my most memorable trips in Massachusetts would be the ride on one of the Food For Free trucks along with Dom, one of the several drivers collecting the food and distributing it to our partners. That day I discovered several partner organizations in the food emergency and non-profit ecosystems, such as the Cambridge Women’s Center and the Cambridge Community Center. Also, I visited some places with names that were more familiar to me, like Catholic Charities of Boston. I saw people from different nationalities and cultures gathered at the Cambridge Community Center waiting for our truck, all seemingly equally curious and impatient to see what we had rescued. 

This trip was part of my onboarding process as the new Grants Manager at Food For Free. I joined Food for Free in August 2022 and was lucky enough to use some time at work to join a few volunteer shifts and even ride with a driver on one of the organization’s trucks.

While food waste in the United States always seemed a prominent issue, food insecurity didn’t seem too critical. I was not shocked to learn that 31% of the food available for human consumption in the United States is wasted at the retail and consumer levels (USDA). However, an issue like food insecurity was not as apparent to me as other more prominent issues such as food waste or homelessness. Before my first week at Food For Free, I vastly underestimated the extent of food insecurity in the US and the importance of the work of hunger relief organizations in the US. I would not have imagined that up to 1 out of 3 adults in Massachusetts is food insecure.

At the community center in Cambridge, I smiled after hearing a Haitian man speak about the excitement of some of the people who were emptying the truck. We had a brief conversation in Haitian Creole, my native language. I remembered then that a Haitian proverb says, “Sak vid pa kanpe”(“the empty bag doesn’t stand,”) which means that hungry people cannot function properly. It is a good illustration of the consequences of a lack of access to food in people’s lives, which can affect their ability to live fully and be healthy. The good news is that organizations like Food For Free are tackling this issue. 

One of those organizations is Food for Free. It has this fascinating and practical approach where they combine food rescue and distribution, collecting the food that would otherwise be discarded to help reach those who need it most or bridging the gap between waste and want, as the organization describes it. Perhaps one of the most original aspects of Food For Free’s work is how they leverage volunteers’ support to serve the recipients of their programs. Having worked with several organizations, I know how important and helpful it is to count on volunteers’ help to achieve goals. Seeing so many faces from all walks of life coming to our Innerbelt packing and distribution center in Somerville to help send food to those who need it gives me a lot of hope and restores some of my faith in humanity.

Food for Free distributes balanced cooked meals, fresh produce, grains, dairy items, frozen meat, and shelf-stable groceries in Eastern Massachusetts. The organization has several programs that target increasing food security for students, the elderly, people living with disabilities, and individuals in low-income communities. Food For Free collaborates with partner organizations through the emergency food system, such as pantries, meal programs, and shelters, through partnerships with schools and community colleges. The organization also does its own direct service programs and other community-based programs to reach those in need. 

So far, in 2022, Food For Free has engaged 804 volunteers and 41 corporate and community groups. I had the chance to join four volunteer shifts that contributed to achieving the goals of four of Food For Free’s programs. We prepared 35-pound  boxes of food at the Healthy Eats volunteer shift that the Food For Free Operations team later delivered to seniors and people with disabilities who cannot benefit from traditional food pantries because of loss of mobility and health problems, for example. I was surprised to see some special boxes offering vegetarian, vegan, nut-free, and gluten-free options for people with specific dietary restrictions or preferences.

The Just Eats shift is another volunteer shift I participated in. We prepared 25-pound boxes of assorted fresh fruits, vegetables, grains, and dry proteins that our Logistics Specialists later distributed to pantries, schools, and low-income housing sites. The boxes from Just Eats were slightly different from those from Healthy Eats. They mainly had fresh produce, while the Healthy Eats boxes had some shelf-stable items in addition to fresh produce.

The Heat-N-Eats program is different from the others. First, I drove to Biogen in Cambridge, where Food For Free has a kitchen within the building. Parking was not easy to find, but separating and cutting prepared and cooked frozen pieces of chicken to make a meal was fun. I loved adding veggies to the plates, and I thought it made a big difference in guaranteeing this meal had enough nutrients. One of the volunteers who worked the same shift as me was probably a high school student, and another was in his late 70s. It was beautiful to see them meeting around one single task – helping others get access to healthy food. The cooked food for this program comes from the dining halls of various institutions in Cambridge, such as a Harvard University dining hall and 11 other distinct sites. It’s incredible how several actors play a role in sending cooked food to those who might not be able to cook it or cannot afford to order from a restaurant.

It has been four weeks since my first volunteer shift, and I have forgotten the names of most of the volunteers I met. Nonetheless, I will remember all those faces, the smiles, and the eagerness to help. I will remember that somewhere in Somerville, a teacher volunteered her time to make the boxes used to transport the food. I know that on Thursday, a Food for Free Logistics Specialist stops at several Whole Foods stores to rescue food that a woman is waiting for at the Cambridge Women’s Center. I will remember the empty truck after the last stop because the goal is to empty more healthy food trucks and have no empty bellies in our neighborhoods.