By Erin Franey
This month marks EatFresh.org’s second anniversary, and my first full year working as part of the EatFresh.org team at Leah’s Pantry. The resources available on EatFresh.org have grown over the past year, and I have learned a lot in the process. I feel more eager than ever before to share all the tools we are building with partners around the state, and sense their excitement to use EatFresh.org as a platform to enhance their work.
Heather Criss of Mendocino HHSA and Rebecca Tryon of Yolo HHSA both got in touch with me this summer about making a trip to train their county partners. I spent the week of October 12th between the two counties meeting with food banks, family resource centers, CalFresh staff, and other agencies. Showing not only the functionality of EatFresh.org, but also our new promotional videos, the EatFresh.org Mini Course, and highlighting how other counties have piloted EatFresh.org programing reminded me of how far we have come in the past year. After both CNAP meetings the room was buzzing with ideas about how to get posters and recipe cards to other organizations, who could connect with library staff about the Mini Course, and what materials would be most useful in CalFresh outreach. I was particularly interested to learn about challenges both counties face to addressing food insecurity amongst residents, and saw first hand how food assistance programs differ in rural counties compared to urban ones like San Francisco.
There was a lot of interest in EatFresh.org in both Mendocino and Yolo, and plans to share resources widely. Thank you so much Heather, Rebecca, and everyone I met with for coordinating this visit. I hope to make similar trips to other counties in the months ahead!