NEWARK, DE - Promoting a healthier world through fresh produce is no easy feat, and the Produce Marketing Association (PMA) is continuously recognizing those in the industry that do just that every day. PMA’s second Impact Award Laureate was recently awarded to Georgia Organics’ Food Fight GA initiative in Atlanta, Georgia.
“The creators of Food Fight GA saw a significant disruption in the supply chain and created a solution that helped save businesses like small local farmers, and fed those in the community whose jobs were lost or limited due to shutdowns,” said Lauren M. Scott, PMA Chief Strategy and Membership Officer. “It’s truly innovative to see opportunity where others cannot, but what I find most impressive and worthy of recognition is the dedication to growing a healthier world by ensuring that produce can find its way to those most in need.”
At Fresh Summit 2019, Joe Don Zetzsche announced the PMA Impact Award, a new award to recognize those individuals and organizations in and outside of the industry growing a healthier world through produce and floral. As stated in the press release, Georgia Organics’ Food Fight GA is the second award winner to be announced, joining the inaugural cohort of Impact Award Laureates and is the center of a new mini-documentary shared on PMA’s Impact Award website.
The coronavirus pandemic has created a chain reaction of unforeseen challenges at each point in the food chain from growers to consumers and those who serve them in restaurants and retail outlets. Food Fight GA was spearheaded by Georgia Organics as a response to one of the most serious challenges created by the COVID-19 shutdowns: What happens to foodservice employees and foodservice suppliers when the restaurants are forced to close? Georgia Organics, whose mission is to connect organic food from Georgia farms to Georgia families, focused its efforts on finding a solution for just that problem.
“Food Fight GA has continued to make sure that farmers who may have lost sales due to a decrease in purchasing from restaurants are still able to make a living,” said Amber Suitt, Director of Programs at Food Fight GA. “At the same time, we have been a great support to the restaurants in particular for their employees.”
As an industry, foodservice has experienced one of the highest rates of unemployment across the U.S. during the pandemic. Many chefs and restaurant owners were forced to let go of team members or reduce staff hours, including Deborah VanTrece, Executive Chef and Owner of Twisted Soul Cookhouse & Pours.
“We’re all struggling here,” said VanTrece. “Quite often, people are wondering where their next meal is coming from, or they’re making a choice to pay rent or to eat. That is not a choice that any of us should have to make. The Food Fight GA program provides food and closes that gap and takes worry off of our employees.”
Food Fight GA seeks to serve Atlanta’s restaurant family by providing fresh produce to former staff while also maintaining the local food system. Thanks to funding from the Jamestown Charitable Foundation and Ponce City Market, Food Fight GA is able to order directly from the small farms that are often existing sellers to the restaurants to be bagged, sorted, and shared with those now unemployed in the restaurant community. The program has distributed 3,900 produce boxes to restaurant workers, with more than $115,000 benefiting local farmers, more than half of which are BIPOC (Black Indigenous, and people of color) farmers.
Food Fight GA is hoping to continue its program through early October. Those interested in learning more about the program or how to donate can find more information on the organization’s website.
To learn more about the PMA Impact Award, or to hear more about the work of Food Fight GA, please visit PMA’s Impact Award website.
As our industry continues to grow and become stronger, keep checking back to ANUK for the latest.
