by Dennis Dalman
Plenty of fixings for a complete Thanksgiving family dinner will be available at a “Fare for All” distribution event from 3:30-5:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 15 at Resurrection Lutheran Church in St. Joseph.
The church is located at 610 CR 2 just north of the Wobegon Trail about a half mile from downtown St. Joseph. People are requested to wear a mask when showing up for the food distribution.
The Fare for All distribution occurs every month at that church site. The one for November is dubbed “November Holiday Pack.” It costs $30 per pack, less than half of what the food items would cost in stores. There are no criteria, such as income levels, to purchase the food packages. All are welcome.
The package of food contains a Jennie-O frozen turkey (from 8 to 12 pounds), a twin pack of herb-garlic pork loins (3.5 pounds), pork sausage (1 pound), two packs of French-cut green beans (2 pounds) and a Sara Lee pumpkin pie.
Fare for All is a program of The Food Group, a nonprofit organization based in New Hope whose motto is “Using nutrition to strengthen community.”
The food items are collected via wholesale bulk purchasing, from local food partnerships and from “Big River Farms.” The latter, also a program of The Food Group, is a 150-acre parcel of organic farmland located near Marine on St. Croix. On that site, people learn how to become food growers/farmers, and many of the participants are people of color and immigrants.
After the food is collected from various sources, Fare for All volunteers then pack the food in boxes and trucks deliver the packages to more than 40 distribution sites in Minnesota and some sites in Wisconsin.
