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PUTTING STOCK IN OUR COMMUNITIES

How is it that Montgomery County is the 10th wealthiest county in America and yet we have 33% of our children considered at-risk for hunger? Simultaneously, many of our local farmers can’t make a living farming and are left turning their un-purchased produce back into their fields while over 40% of locally prepared foods are thrown away daily. And we have a population in our shelters that need meaningful work to do between the hours of 6am and 6 pm when they are not allowed inside the shelters. Clearly we need to support our producers by paying them for their produce, give our homeless population meaningful work and job training, and redistribute our prepared foods to create a truly sustainable food system that leads to zero-waste. Our goal is that all food created, processed or prepared in the Chesapeake Foodshed stay within the region to feed people first, animals second, and to enrich our soils third.  

Putting Stock in Your Community is a full service, closed-loop solution that integrates and strengthens relationships between and amongst food producers and the community. First, we collect leftover food prepared in licensed commercial kitchens from restaurants, caterers, schools, hotels etc., to redistribute to those experiencing food insecurity in Montgomery County. Donors are eligible for an enhanced tax deduction for food donation equivalent of 200% of the cost of the prepared food. To be a full-service food recovery system, we also collect bones from butchering to become stock, and food that has fallen outside of the safety guidelines with regards to temperature control, that we make available for farm animals. All food leftovers will be processed in our state-of-the-art food dehydrator that turns 1500 pounds of food scraps into 150 pounds of pet food in 24 hours. Whatever is not shared with animals is composted to enrich our local soils to grow more healthy food. To fuel the system we collect used vegetable oil that we filter to run our Waste Vegetable Oil-fueled, zero-waste carbon-neutral shuttle  -- The Vida-Vita-Veggie Mobile.

To support our local food economy, and honor our food producers, we aggregate food from farms, farmers markets, and CSAs at a discounted rate and bring it to our food hub for redistribution. All blemished and “seconds” produce needing to be processed will be brought to our downtown Silver Spring kitchen to be prepared by growingSOUL staff with the support of volunteers from shelters, after-school students, and the community-at-large, providing volunteers with SSL hours, meaningful work, job training, and ultimately, a home-cooked meal in reciprocity for their service. We make stock from fresh bones and food scraps, adding in the “catch” of the day to prepare Community Stone Soups. The soups will be sold at our farmers market partners (Olney, Silver Spring & Crossroads), our kitchen, and the TPSS Coop with a BOGO offer – Buy One, Give One – so that everyone purchasing our products knows they are contributing to sharing food with a family in need, and are helping make the program financially sustainable by Putting Stock in Your Community.

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