The Farmlink Project

'Abundance: The Farmlink Story' is live. When we started this project three years ago, we were just a bunch of college kids, looking to do something—anything—to help out our neighbors facing food insecurity. Today, we are a national nonprofit that has delivered over 130 million pounds of food to people across the entire country. We're on a mission to end hunger within our lifetimes. Our film explains how. We are thrilled to share 'Abundance: The Farmlink Story' with you today and invite you to join us in sharing this film and vision for a hunger-free future with your community.

Last week, a group of our FIELD fellows joined over 50 students from across the country at the Gen Z Food & Hunger Summit for an advocacy crash course, followed by an opportunity to take action. Young people taking the issues they care about into their own hands is at the core of Farmlink’s DNA, and we were incredibly proud to join the Congressional Hunger Center and Food Systems Collaborative Community at this year’s Gen Z Food & Hunger Summit. The FIELD fellows had the opportunity to learn from policy experts (including our own Head of Policy & Advocacy, Sophia Adelle) about the intricacies of advocating for federal legislation. They then put what they’d learned into practice by meeting with Congressional offices representing their districts, whether it was where they live, go to school, or are immersed this summer. Each student advocated for the Food Date Labeling Act (FDLA) or the Opportunity to Address College Hunger Act (OACHA), which are critical pieces of legislation that will help reduce food waste and fight hunger nationwide. We were so excited to be a partner in this movement of young people fighting for food security in their communities and across the country, building momentum behind key legislation that centers innovative, common-sense solutions. Keep an eye out for our newsletter written by FIELD fellow and summit participant Divya Saikumar for her insights from the summit (and subscribe here if you haven’t already)! https://lnkd.in/ditKnt3B Shout out to the other Gen Z Food & Hunger Summit partners, Swipe Out Hunger, Food Recovery Network, The New York Times, The Bonner Foundation, Student Basic Needs Coalition, and Bread for the World for an incredible event!

This summer, we’re hitting the road to see our FIELD fellows in action! The FIELD fellowship equips young people with the tools to tackle global challenges like hunger and climate change. Stella Delp will visit all 11 fellows at their diverse immersion sites across the United States as they gather insights from industry experts, develop entrepreneurial mindsets, and create innovative food system solutions. While on the road, we’ll also reconnect with our alumni, whose Farmlink experiences have led them to impactful careers as food entrepreneurs, policymakers, and teachers. We're also thrilled to meet with our stakeholders—farmers, community food distributors, and supporters—who have been crucial to our mission. As a remote organization, these in-person visits are beyond special. This tour is happening thanks to our incredible partnership with Planet Home Lending, LLC! They supported our first national tour in 2020, and it felt natural to team up again. Planet Home Lending is committed to making meaningful environmental and social impact, so they're excited to join us in empowering the next generation of changemakers in the food system. 🚜🌾🌱🌍

Have you ever wanted to volunteer with The Farmlink Project? Now’s your chance! On Thursday, July 11, we will be hosting virtual sessions for volunteers to actively support our Food Program. Event Description: As Farmlink looks to expand its charity contact network in Oregon, volunteers will be given a list of food banks and organizations across the state and tasked with internet research to identify phone numbers, emails, etc. There are two open time slots for volunteers to sign up: 10am PT / 1pm ET - https://lnkd.in/gcE6p2gv 12pm PT / 3pm ET -https://lnkd.in/g3P5SckQ We hope to see you there!

To: Farmlinkers 📩 Subject: June Recap! During the month of June, our team moved an estimated 11 million lbs of food! The majority was mixed produce, but we also delivered: 🍇 Grapes 🥔 Potatoes 🍅 Tomatoes 🍈Melons As we continue to feed communities, check out this link to learn how you can support and get involved! https://lnkd.in/gWjVev4k Warmly, The Farmlink Project team

Last week, The Farmlink Project team joined the 2024 ReFED Summit in Baltimore and attended US Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack's announcement releasing the White House National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics! This interagency strategy formed by USDA, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), FDA, and The White House is a landmark commitment calling for unprecedented collaboration between agencies, companies, organizations, and individuals to achieve the federal goal of reducing food loss and waste by 50% by 2030. Farmlink celebrates the final strategy’s incorporation of our comments urging the agencies to involve food rescue organizations as research and implementation partners. We are especially excited to recognize the strategy’s call for partnerships between the private and public sectors and food recovery non-profits. This inclusion is a critical first step to creating effective solutions to reduce food waste and related carbon emissions. We are also encouraged to note that many actions in the strategy are guided by the EPA Wasted Food Scale. At Farmlink, we believe in the co-beneficial opportunity of recovering food waste to support farmers, feed families, and heal the planet. The guidance of the Wasted Food Scale in highlighting the importance of food recovery and the vital organizations that recover millions of pounds of food every year promises to unlock synergistic, equitable, and sustainable solutions to achieve FLW reduction goals at both a national and global scale. Stay tuned for more updates on the most exciting announcements in the strategy and what they mean for our work! Photographed below: Ben Collier and Sophia Adelle Relevant links: White House National Strategy for Reducing Food Loss and Waste and Recycling Organics: https://lnkd.in/gyUvG7in EPA Wasted Food Scale: https://lnkd.in/gH6pG5F9

To pull off audacious food recoveries like the 13.5 million pounds of apples it rescued last year, The Farmlink Project knows it needs committed collaborators. To that end, it's asking hunger relief orgs to sign a pledge of cooperation. https://lnkd.in/etARyMnb

Made it to Rotterdam and excited to be speaking tomorrow about The Farmlink Project at the opening ceremony for Urban Future. If you or anybody you know will be attending, please reach out! #UF24

When we launched Farmlink in 2020, our ability to move food from farms to food banks was solely due to our intentional focus on collaboration. In just three months, we grew from a group of seven to twelve, and then to 500 college students and young adults. Together with farmers, food banks, and other organizations fighting hunger, we worked to support our neighbors during a crisis. Without collaboration and teamwork, we would not exist. Today, after distributing 200 million pounds of food, we continue to prioritize those same values. We are thrilled to announce our public commitment to the principles of innovation, partnership, and measuring our success collectively with our Shared Plate Pledge. We are now inviting others to join us in committing to innovate, build, and partner throughout the charitable food system as we work together to make an abundance of produce accessible to all. www.sharedplatepledge.org 

The Farmlink Project is now included as a partner in the Friends of Champions 12.3 network! Friends of Champions 12.3 is a coalition of organizations and companies dedicated to inspiring ambition, mobilizing action, and accelerating progress toward achieving Sustainable Development Goal Target 12.3, which aims to halve food loss and waste by 2030. We are proud to be included among mighty partners like ReFED, The Global FoodBanking Network, and many more. As we near the halfway mark to this global goal, Farmlink has prevented 200 million lbs of food from going to waste. We aim to double this impact by the end of 2025. https://lnkd.in/df7Bji8