Community Connections

Second Harvest Heartland works in partnership with over 1,000 local food shelves, meal programs, and partner programs to address the issue of hunger in our community. Second Harvest Heartland is committed to leveraging our existing community partnerships to provide Food + You schools with opportunities uniquely designed to address school-driven interests.

Here are some examples of connections that Food + You staff helped schools make in the first year of the program:

• Fresh Produce Distributions
  Food + You schools interested in providing fresh produce to families may opt into partnering with a Second Harvest Heartland approved agency to schedule a fresh produce distribution. The types of produce available for these distributions vary depending on what is seasonally available from farmer donations and Retail Food Rescue donations. Availability may be limited, contact Child Hunger Program staff to learn more.
• Cooking Classes
  Working with University of Minnesota Extension schools provided cooking classes and demos for families to help them know how to prepare the foods sent home through food distributions.
• Mobile Distributions
  Working with an agency partner two schools had a local food shelf with a mobile unit come during a Food + You distribution to send families home with additional food, including fresh produce, dairy and meat.
• Connecting Food + You Schools
  By facilitating connections within the cohort of schools participating in the Food + You program we support idea sharing, lessons learned, best practices, etc.

If you have an idea of an additional community connection or a food-related resource you feel would benefit your students and families contact Child Hunger Program staff.

Resources

• Food Resource Map - an interactive mapping tool that helps you locate food resources
• 211 - a guide to a variety of community resources
• Produce Estimator
• Good and Cheap - a cookbook designed for $4/day meals
• Recipe Finder - a USDA resource for inexpensive meals
• Edible Schoolyards Manual
• School Gardens Fact Sheet
• University of Minnesota Extension - offer programs for nutrition education and cooking classes, as well as garden resources
• Volunteer Management guide