Anne Stocker and Anne Stevralia looked over bins heaping with apples and oranges, and boxes of microgreens and leafy kale.
Bell peppers were the most abundant item that day. They could be used in a host of healthy dishes — from dips to soups to the building blocks for a hearty bowl of chili.
The two Annes weren’t shopping for themselves, however. They were collecting unsold food from Easton Public Market’s Highmark Farmstand for pantries that feed those who need it most. The women are among about a dozen volunteers with the Easton Hunger Coalition, a tight-knit group that collects unused food and distributes it to pantries.
“Clearly the need for food is high,” said Nancy Walters, who heads the coalition. “And then we looked at why the need is so high and what we can do to change it.”
It’s estimated that 30-40% of all food in the United States is wasted, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Much of that food can be eaten but is tossed, either because it’s not visually perfect or is taking space needed for fresher inventory. In the Lehigh Valley, 700,000 pounds of food per year fits that category, according to the Lehigh Valley Food Policy Council, a collaboration of organizations working to reduce food insecurity.
Despite all that uneaten food here, about 1 in 10 people relies on monthly visits to food banks. The numbers are even more alarming for children — 1 out of 3 is hungry, according to the council.
“If we recovered 40% of what’s available and converted that to food that people could eat, we could close the meal gap in Lehigh and Northampton counties,” said Susan Dalandan, Lehigh Valley Food Policy Council coordinator.
It’s not as simple as collecting the food and donating it. Perishable food — fruits, vegetables, dairy items — is particularly challenging because pantries tend to be open just a few times a month and often don’t have much refrigeration space.
“Food pantries grew out of the closets at churches,” Dalandan said. “They don’t have the capacity for fresh storage. They don’t have the money to pay for the cost of the storage, and no space.”
In 2014, Walters attended a community meeting about food insecurity in the Easton area and got the idea to enlist volunteers to reclaim fresh food. She had to determine which pantries had enough refrigeration and could take the food, then she had to coordinate with area businesses and farms. Walters and her all-volunteer group set out to reclaim the food and donate it to more than 10 area pantries.
The coalition has been active for almost six years. It runs like a military operation, with food collected and dropped off with efficiency. In 2019, it collected more than 14,000 pounds of fresh food just in the Easton area, from food stores and stands, farms and schools.
“Every week we have four or five pickups,” Walters said. “We judge whether we can take it or not. If it’s too much, we donate to Second Harvest.”
Produce is one of the biggest categories of wasted food, with 45% of fresh fruit and vegetables tossed, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Dairy products and eggs also suffer from aggressive disposal. Confusion over “sell-by” dates, which refer to when a store should stop selling a product, not the freshness of it, prompts more waste.
Reducing waste is one of the reasons Easton Public Market donates unused food to the coalition. The farmstand is a mini-food market, featuring mostly locally sourced fruits and vegetables, along with dairy, eggs and locally made packaged and prepared foods.
Providing a food safety net to those who need it was one of the reasons the farmstand became involved, manager Christopher Wolf said. Keeping food from landfills was another.
“In an international effort to draw down carbon from the atmosphere, the reduction of food waste ranks nearly at the top of the list as an effective, necessary resolution,” he said.
Food from the farmstand is collected every Tuesday morning when Easton Public Market is closed. The farmstand donates any usable food, including vegetables and fruit from local farms such as Salvaterra Gardens, Scholl Orchards and Josie Porter Farms, as well as eggs and dairy products (no raw milk, however). Taking the food makes room for new stock. Sometimes donations are collected from Modern Crumb, a bakery in the market.
On a recent Tuesday, the two Annes, dressed in fluorescent orange vests marked “volunteer,” sorted through the bins, which also included some fresh salads and even chocolate milk. Then they packed up a truck and headed to the Easton Neighborhood Center, a nonprofit that provides a host of services, including a pantry.
“It does feel so good to bring it to the pantries,” said Stocker, of Easton.
Ross Marcus, the center’s executive director, said the coalition delivers about 100 pounds of fresh, unused food a week. Marcus said his staff goes through the food as it comes in, and then it’s ready for distribution.
Marcus said the fresh food, which is put out on a separate table, goes quickly.
“This is a welcome addition to what we’re able to provide through the pantry,” he said. “Frozen vegetables are OK but there’s nothing like fresh vegetables for their nutrition and their taste. And when you’re on a limited budget, people have trouble affording fresh produce. We’re going to jump at the chance to offer that.”
More information, including how to volunteer, is at eastonhungercoalition.org.
Morning Call reporter Jennifer Sheehan can be reached at 610-820-6628 or jsheehan@mcall.com
