The International Foodservice Editorial Council (IFEC) and Smucker Foodservice announced the recipients of IFEC’s inaugural Food For Good award. The recognition, sponsored by Smucker Foodservice, was designed to shine light on grass-root organizations, in the cities where IFEC’s annual conference is held, who are bringing good to local communities through innovative programs involving food. This year’s recipients were selected from Minneapolis, the host city for this year’s annual conference. The host city changes annually and local organizations will be continue to be recognized in years to come.
The inaugural recipients are three organizations changing not only the lives of individuals, but the communities in which they reside. Each received a $1,000 donation from Smucker Foodservice along with a limited edition original block print by octogenarian and life-long community activist artist Diana Bower. The awards were presented on October 26 in Minneapolis.
Cookie Cart is a unique earn-as-you-learn program that offers teens from low-income communities of color the chance to gain employment experience, job-readiness skills, and proficiency certification, while earning a modest wage. The group’s mission is to provide teens with lasting and meaningful work, life and leadership skills.
Dream of Wild Health was established to help indigenous American populations reclaim physical, spiritual and mental health through programs that teach ancestral ways of growing food and living healthier lives. The organization operates a 10-acre organic farm that provides education programs for adults and children, teaching business skills to those in the program by selling at local farmer’s markets; a summer farming apprentice program for Native American teens; and a youth leadership program that teaches advocacy for reconnection with food. Dream of Wild Health also collects and preserves more than 300 varieties of indigenous seeds, offering cooking classes to educate students on working with indigenous foods.
The Minnesota Food Association’s mission is to build a sustainable food system based on social, economic and environmental justice through education, training and partnerships. The group endeavors to provide those in immigrant and minority populations, who have a desire to farm, the tools, knowledge and resources necessary to achieve that goal. In doing so, the organization broadly supports the Twin Cities by producing more organic, sustainable local foods.
“Food is a powerful agent for change, as the recipients of this award so ably demonstrate,” says Cathy Holley, IFEC president. “Each of them touches lives in meaningful ways. We are honored to share their stories with everyone who cares about food and community and are thrilled to have Smucker Foodservice as our inaugural sponsor.”
