Dozens of volunteers made around 300 ready to-go meals for community pantries and fridges on Nov. 7 at Trinity Lutheran Church in Green Bay.
Many of those volunteers who went to Rooted In Inc.’s emergency cooking session were new. They were able to turn over 200 pounds of food left over from the Packers’ game on Nov. 2 at Lambeau Field into at least 300 meals for the community.
Selena Darrow, founder and president of Rooted In, organized the event to help the demand for food while federal funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program is up in the air.
Funding for FoodShare, Wisconsin’s SNAP program, was paused during the U.S. government shutdown, which hit its 38th day on Nov. 7. About 700,000 people rely on FoodShare in Wisconsin and 27,000 of them live in Brown County.
On Nov. 6, a federal judge ordered the Trump administration to make full SNAP payments in November using contingency funds and other available funds. Gov. Tony Evers said that Wisconsinites received their full food benefits overnight Nov. 7 before the Trump administration appealed the judge’s order.
It’s unclear if the administration could draw back benefits that were already paid to residents.
Rooted In’s monthly community cooking session started in February 2024. The nonprofit hopes that increased awareness will help the program grow.
Residents feed their community
Over a dozen recipes were on the menu for Rooted In’s cooking session. Volunteers were able to turn the 218 pounds recovered Nov. 4 from Delaware North, the Packers’ food vendor, into stuffing, pulled pork sandwiches, chili, spaghetti, hot dogs, flatbread pizza, pancakes, and more. They also made individually packed spices, vegetables and other ingredients for residents to make their meals.
Rooted In holds monthly community cooking events to prepare meals and send them to local pantries. This time, Darrow said, there were many new volunteers and she had to turn away people.
Rooted In will freeze whatever doesn’t get delivered to the three community fridges in Joannes Park, Seymour Park, or Bay Park Square mall for distribution another week.
“We’re in a crisis,” said Denise Larson of Rooted In. “If our government isn’t going to take care of us, we’re going to take care of each other.”
Beth and Andy Haasl wanted to help out at the event after stopping by the community fridge at Joannes Park, 315 S. Baird St., earlier in the week to donate and finding it nearly empty except for a few bags of carrots.
“We want to make sure other people aren’t hungry and it’s very important during this time,” Beth Haasl said.
Darrow said restaurants like Jake’s Pizza have asked her what she needs and ordered items from their food distributor to donate to Rooted In’s meal program. Food through distributors goes a long way.
“We can buy food more effectively than our community members going out and buying food at retail prices,” Darrow said.
From a crisis to a new normal
Rooted In has been working to reduce food insecurity in the Green Bay area since the summer of 2023. The nonprofit runs cooking demonstrations at farmers markets and community events, rescues food from businesses and restaurants, and partners to make individual meals for those in need.
So, when demand surged this month, Rooted In and its network were ready to help. Several other area businesses started their own food drives or little pantries in their shops. Green Bay Austen Straubel International Airport is running its own food drive for unpaid airline workers during the government shutdown.
Recently, Larson noticed a shift in people asking for help and stopping by for a meal. Younger people are looking for support with their grocery bill, even for just a couple weeks or months. She has seen more people in their 20s with lower-paying jobs or higher rent become strapped for food.
“It’s a little bit of a different landscape we’re seeing. It’s not all a family with six kids or a single mom,” Larson said.
Food rescues have been going on for years in the area before the delays in FoodShare. Larson hopes that surge in community support this month and the food network that was built in Green Bay will continue even after the government reopens. People can reach out to Rooted In for any of their own holiday parties if they have a lot of leftovers.
“This is not just a crisis situation. This is a change in how we support each other as a community. Then it becomes just a norm,” Larson said. “How do we pack it up and who do we contact to make sure it gets reallocated?”
Volunteer for an upcoming Cooking for the Community event on Nov. 30 or Dec. 14 at rootedininc.org/how-you-can-help/volunteer/.
(This story has been updated to correct the frequency of the community cooking sessions.)
Contact Benita Mathew at bmathew@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Rooted In uses food recovered from Packers game to make over 300 meals for area food pantries
Reporting by Benita Mathew, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
