Powered by grant money and research on which communities aren’t being served, food banks across the country have been working with BIPOC, immigrant, and refugee communities to even the playing field.

Although Good Shepherd Food Bank has long served diverse communities across Maine, it wasn’t until Covid-19 hit that the organization realized how much variety there was in the food its clients wanted – and how little of that variety it provided.

The problem became apparent when fears about how the virus was spreading forced the food bank to pre-package food and focus on pantry staples. Fresh produce was popular across the board, but the shelf-stable items did not fit how many people ate.

“I keep saying, ‘I’m so sorry that it took a pandemic for us to realize how much we were falling short,’” said Kristen Miale, the food bank’s president. “We’re eyes wide open now, and hopefully on a path to doing a much better job.”

One big step on that path was the food bank’s launch of a community redistribution fund that gave out $200,000 in two weeks to organizations that work closely with BIPOC, immigrant and refugee communities. Priority for the grants was given to community organizations that were not already partners of the food bank and were led by and served mostly people of color. The grants specifically supported efforts to source and distribute culturally relevant food.

Read the full article about food banks tackling inequity by Ambreen Ali at The Counter.