Dane County makes commitment to extend ‘Farm to Foodbank’ initiative

Site Staff,

This spring marks the beginning of the fourth year of a county-initiated partnership with Second Harvest Foodbank of Southern Wisconsin that was born out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Together, Dane County, Second Harvest, and its network of local food pantries and meal sites have provided millions of pounds of freshly grown and locally sourced food to thousands of families in Dane County.

Dane County Executive Parisi’s budget includes $6 million to sustain the successes of Farm to Foodbank in 2023. The funding comes at a critical time, given recent announcements that temporary increases to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (known as SNAP, or FoodShare in Wisconsin) — benefits designed to help families cope with the financial impacts of the pandemic — will sunset at the end of February. An estimated 20,000 Dane County residents will be impacted by this change, and food pantries are expecting a surge in the number of people seeking assistance.

In addition to the Farm to Foodbank initiative, Parisi announced that Dane County is awarding $2 million in local emergency food pantry assistance grants to:

  • Wisconsin Youth Company — $50,021;
  • Mission Nutrition DeForest — $50,021;
  • McFarland Community Food Pantry — $50,000;
  • Sun Prairie Emergency Food Pantry — $95,236;
  • Extended Hands Pantry — $50,021;
  • Oregon Area Food Pantry — $50,021;
  • Lussier Community Education Center — $67,627;
  • Irwin A. and Robert D. Goodman Community Center — $50,564;
  • Deerfield Community Center Inc. — $50,021;
  • JFMJ Academy — $50,021;
  • Neighbors Helping Neighbors — $50,021;
  • Heights Unlimited Community Resource Center — $50,000;
  • Vera Court Neighborhood Center — $50,021;
  • District Council of Madison, Society of St. Vincent De Paul — $223,349;
  • The River Food Pantry — $111,686;
  • Badger Prairie Needs Network — $125,643;
  • Community Action Coalition for South Central Wisconsin — $530,844; and
  • Middleton Outreach Ministry — $201,842.

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