From the Chief Food Advocate

2020 was certainly a year that we all will remember. For a grass roots non profit it was a time to pivot and rethink how best to serve our audience.
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Getting information about our organization into the public schools seemed like a good approach. Partnering with the Virginia Farm to School program and creating monthly recipes for the Harvest of the Month started in January. These recipe cards and information about the FEAST program are dropped in food foods that go home with 3,000 students each month.

Old Dominion University Student Pantry reached out to us and asked how we could help. We suggested taking the recipe card and providing all the ingredients in a bag, A Take It & Make It Kit would be something the students would enjoy. In March we started the Take It & Make It kit with the support from the Monarch Dining and Aramark Food Services who provided the ingredients and staff to pack the bags. We suggested that we take it a step further and do a video/ YouTube on how to put the recipe together. Chef Patton is now making YouTube videos of the recipes that include a QR code on the card for easy scanning. The students seem to enjoy taking them and making them. Many of the students are international so it helps them to navigate our foods a little better.

Additional FEAST Virginia has been underwriting the Cooking with Jae episodes on WHRO Public Media every other Sunday at 6 p.m. since February. Jae and Chef Patton at ODU have connected and have produced several YouTubes from the Monarch Dining Center. Check them out!

The goal of this Monthly Digest is to keep you informed of the services we are providing for our communities. Please give us some feedback by email, Facebook or Instagram. 2021 is going to be a great year!

Bev Sell - Chief Food Advocate 
Founder of FEAST Virginia

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