Second Harvest seeks donations of shelf-stable foods to meet needs

 

Typically, Second Harvest Inland Northwest has 2.5 million pounds of food in its inventory in Spokane and Pasco warehouses in January, but the warehouses have just 1.25 million pounds of food.

"We bought some food to help for two weeks, but it's a struggle even to buy food," said Eric Williams of Second Harvest. "Ninety percent of our food is donated through the generosity of grocery stores, food processors, farmers and individuals."

The dilemma, Eric explained, is that it is harder to access dry, shelf-stable food. Ten years ago, 60 percent of Second Harvest's shelves held dry, shelf-stable food and 40 percent of the storage was for fresh produce. Now those percentages are flipped.

"Farmers have been generous, so we have a lot of fresh Washington produce, but less shelf-stable foods are available," he said. "It's a result of companies improving their efficiency through computer technology, so there are fewer errors in inventory."

In addition, consumer demand for ready-to-eat meals is rising, so more food is being directed to ready-to-eat packaged meals, he added.

Roy Lamb and his brother had built Second Harvest's first cooler in its warehouse in 1990. In 2023, they expanded that cooler and freezer space, adding 3,025 square feet to 13,000 square feet, so Second Harvest can handle the produce donations it receives.

"Most food banks, however, have just two family-size refrigerators, so they cannot keep as much produce on hand," Eric said.

"The world is changing, and we need to figure out how to stay ahead of those changes," Eric commented.

Because Second Harvest needs to buy more food, it needs to have more monetary donations.

Meanwhile, the needs of people continue to rise.

"We thought the pandemic was in our rear-view mirror and things would settle down, but our partners are seeing more working people come to their food banks," Eric reported.

"Each of the last three years, Second Harvest has distributed 35 million pounds of food, enough for about 29 million meals, but demand has continued to creep up since the pandemic," he said.

While Second Harvest supplies the same amount of food to the 250 urban and rural partners in 26 counties, with less of it shelf-stable, it is hard for local food bank partners to keep it with their limited refrigeration space.

"We are letting people know that, as the need continues to rise, we need more monetary donations so we can purchase more shelf-stable food," Eric said, adding that more funds are also needed because the price of food is going up.

Second Harvest's partner, Feeding America, is able to buy some shelf-stable food, but it bids in competition with other providers.

"Everyone in the food bank community across the country is facing similar challenges," Eric said. "We seek to be optimistic in the face of the challenges.

The Washington State budget deficit will have an impact on the Washington Department of Agriculture, which is requesting additional even though the state legislature says the budget is tight and there will be cuts.

"If a farm or processing plant donates food, there is a need to transport it from the farm or plant to our warehouse," Eric said. "So, there is a request for the legislature to provide funding to do that."

Related to the need to keep up with continual changes, he quoted philosopher Eric Hoffer: "In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists."

"We have to pay attention to how the world is changing in order to continually adapt to keep ahead of the changes," Eric said.

"We are thankful that generosity continues," he added. "Without generosity we could not do what we do."

Some people donate food. Some volunteer to help Second Harvest do what it does. Others donate funds.

"That's how we are sustained," he said.

For information, call 535-6678 or email eric.williams@2-harvest.org.