Just the Facts
The Vermont Foodbank
The Vermont Foodbank began in 1986 and immediately went to work fighting hunger from a 1,800 square foot warehouse in Barre, distributing food throughout the state. Today the Vermont Foodbank, Vermont’s only food bank, serves 270 Network Partners: food shelves, food pantries, senior centers, shelters and after-school programs that assist 66,000 Vermonters each year. In 2006, the Vermont Foodbank distributed nearly 6.5 million pounds of food to its Network Partners around the state. The Foodbank is a member of America's Second Harvest – The Nation's Food Bank Network (A2HN), the country’s largest charitable hunger-relief organization. The Foodbank observed its 20th year of continuous operation last year. As part of that observance, Governor Douglas has decided to reconvene a Governor’s Task Force on Hunger to help gauge and direct our future work.
A food bank vs. a food shelf/pantry:
A food bank is not a food shelf: A food bank secures large quantities of food and food-related products from commercial suppliers, concerned citizens, and other sources. After the product is examined and sorted, it is then offered to the Foodbank's Network Partners in exchange for a low per-pound "shared maintenance fee." Food banks do not give food directly to low income people—that is the job of food shelves and pantries.
Just the Facts
Last year, the Vermont Foodbank observed 20 years of fighting for hunger-free communities in Vermont.
The Vermont Foodbank, Vermont’s only food bank, has a network of 270 partners: meal sites, food pantries, senior centers, shelters and after-school programs—that serve 66,000 Vermonters each year.
In 2006, the Vermont Foodbank distributed nearly 6.5 million pounds of food to our Network Partners throughout the state.
In Vermont, 14,500 different people receive assistance from food shelves and meal sites in any given week (Hunger in America 2005).
Food shelf caseload has grown by 23% since 2003, now serving 10,379 different households per month in Vermont (OEO 2005 Report).
Elderly households represent 21% of food shelf customers around the state (OEO 2005 Report).
1 in 5 Vermont children live in poverty.
11,437 Vermont children are being supported by food shelves each month, a 21% increase in two years (OEO 2005 Report).
For every dollar donation, the Vermont Foodbank can acquire and distribute 3 pounds of food.
The fastest growing demographic of people who access the charitable food system is the “working poor.”
