Rachel’s Table continues mission to provide food for those in need

Date: 9/19/2023

Rachel’s Table has been addressing food insecurity in Western Massachusetts for 30 years, but this summer the program that rescues food and puts in the hands of those who need it underwent a major change.

Long a program of the Jewish Federation, Rachel’s Table became an independent nonprofit earlier this summer with the same goal of feeding the hungry and reducing the amount of food that would end up in landfills.

Executive Director Jodi Falk explained to Reminder Publishing that the one-time program needed to become independent because it had grown so much.

“We needed to stand on our own two feet to make decisions quickly,” Falk said.

Officially, the new organization launched July 1.

The organization is guided by the principles of being a steward of the land and people; “repair the world,” Falk explained, is a cornerstone.

The program does this by maintaining a group of volunteers who pick up surplus food items from supermarkets, restaurants, bakeries and caterers and deliver it to more than 60 agencies in the region, including emergency food pantries, shelters and after-school programs.

By getting this food to people who need it, the organization keeps about 750,000 pounds of food from going to landfills. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, about one-third of the food produced in the world is either wasted or lost.

Falk said Rachel’s Table has been able to expand the kind of food items it can rescue and repurpose thanks to the purchase of a refrigerated van in 2022.
Falk explained that food waste in landfills is a large emitter of methane gas, which adds to the problem of climate change.

Falk said the need for their services increased during the coronavirus pandemic and that need has not diminished, partly because of inflation. Project Bread has determined that 16.8% of the people living in the commonwealth are food insecure.

Rescuing food, though, is part of what the nonprofit does. It also purchases food through several programs to augment the food rescue.

Gleaning food or working with local famers in helping to harvest surplus crops is another part of the organization’s effort.

Finally, Rachel’s Table has a garden program to help people grow their own food. Falk said the Growing Garden program was started in 2019 and allows people to grow their own food, much of it culturally appropriate crops.

“[The program] can increase self-determination” she said.

“We are just trying to make a small dent in a larger situation,” Falk said of the organization’s mission.

The move to being an independent nonprofit has not meant a large increase in staffing, Falk explained. Rachel’s Table has grown from two full-time employees and two part-time employees to adding one more part-timer. It uses outside side contractors for a number of other necessary tasks.

Falk said this strategy keeps the organization “volunteer driven.”

Rachel’s Table is always looking for volunteers, Falk added. The organization needs drivers to pick up and deliver food and dispatchers who can work from home assigning routes for the drivers. Garden liaisons are also needed to work with new gardeners as is office help. For more information go to feedwma.org or call 413-733-0084.