Food box program extended through December: How to sign up
A federal food distribution program aimed at helping farmers and people in need during the coronavirus pandemic has been extended to the end of the year.
The Farmers to Families Food Box Program will hold distribution events daily at sites around Vermont starting Monday, John Sayles, chief executive officer of Vermont Foodbank, said Tuesday, the Times Argus reported.
Recipients must sign up beforehand online. Those without internet access may call 802-476-0316.
When the program started, the USDA awarded the contract to the Enosburg Falls-based Abbey Group, but the last two rounds went to out-of-state companies.
Lancaster Foods, a Maryland company, was awarded a $4 million contract to supply over 97,000 boxes of food to Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire, according to the USDA's website. That follows the current contract, which went to Boston-based Costa Foods and Sysco, of Houston, to serve Vermont.
When the Abbey Group had the contract, much of the produce in the boxes was from local sources, but none of the food with the out-of-state companies has been from Vermont.
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Working with Lancaster Foods, a large company that distributes food along the East Coast, has gone well, Sayles said.
"Obviously, we would have preferred to have a Vermont company and Vermont food, but they've been great to work with," he said. "They run trucks up to Vermont every day, they're a supplier to grocery chains, so we'll be able to get the boxes we need when we need them."