Help us feed refugees from Ukraine

That’s right, 20 metric tons (or 40,000 lbs), now you understand why we go through 118 gloves a week…

But seriously, since February 24th, our steadily growing team of Ukrainians and Moldovans has been packing, transporting and distributing food to those who need it, mostly refugees, but also local host families. Since the agricultural season is in full swing, starting this week, we can afford to increase the fresh fruit and vegetable content by about 50%, bringing our weekly parcels up to 9 kg (20 pounds), which is the limit of our sacks.

We actually get lots of feedback from beneficiaries who really appreciate how much fresh stuff we include, how we diversify the ingredients from week to week, and that we’re not giving out packaged or processed or single servings like the other guys. And there’s a good reason why they don’t, it’s a LOT of work, sourcing from so many small growers, hand packing thousands of portions every day, and managing a perishable inventory (pulled from the ground, cut from a vine or plucked from a tree, then on someone’s kitchen table within 24 hours, a true “farm to fork” business model).

And since we’ve developed somewhat of a reputation, one of the large relief organizations approached us earlier this month, about scaling up our operation and signing a contract for a year or two. Their team really appreciated how we engage our beneficiaries, ask for and adapt to feedback, bringing our services to them, all while supporting the local economy. Unfortunately, this potential partner is extremely formal, and among other things, would need lab analysis for each batch, product and farmer, which we calculated to be 75-100 samples PER WEEK. We laughed at the thought (and cost) of hiring a team of whitecoats to poke our innocent tomatoes…

Anyway, that’s why nobody feeds refugees the way we do, either their aversion to risk is stronger than ours, or they prioritize cheaper calories. And it’s thanks to GlobalGiving and individual donors like you, that we can move fast, be flexible and focus on quality. You’re supporting not just thousands of refugees every week, but providing fair incomes to dozens of farm families as well as our team of 29 Ukrainians and Moldovans.

And with that, I’ll close with a personal story.

My brain was tickled when someone forgot to mop the floor last month, because it brought back memories of a high school job, cleaning an industrial building at night, after hours. For those of you who know me, I rarely buy anything new, preferring to fix it or find someone who remembers how. Fortunately, I found a guy who brings broken kitchen equipment from Europe, puts it back on track, and gives a six-month warranty with a handshake. Below you’ll see a photo of me “test driving” the model we ended up buying, never would have imagined I’d come full circle, the proud owner an industrial floor scrubber…

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For those of you curious how procurement works around here:

(me) – so, I heard you guys have decent cucumbers

(farmer, looking down) – well, I don’t know…

(me) – cool, so, I’ll take ‘em

(farmer) – um, so uh, like how many, I have 6 crates ready to go

(me) – yeah, I’ll go ahead and take ‘em all

- dramatic pause -

(me) – for the rest of the season

- crickets -

(farmer) – oh

(farmer, making eye contact now) – you uh, don’t want to know the price?

(me) – I was assuming it’d be a fair price

(farmer) – oh, yeah, totally, a fair price, especially since I don’t have to haul them to the market and stand around trying to sell what I can

(me) – guess that leaves you more time for day-trading

(farmer) – is that what the kids are doing with those phones that have TVs on ‘em?

But seriously, starting a few weeks ago we’re able to give out strawberries, cherries and cucumbers, and from this week, new potatoes. People love it, plus we get continuous feedback that the hot bread is still a hit (judging by all the kids who immediately rip open the bag then head for the nearest tree).

I think that’s one big difference between how we approach the situation and some of the bigger guys, we have a client orientation, continuously engaging, trying to be relevant, and having fun. Sure, it’s free stuff, and that shouldn’t be hard to give away, but you’d be surprised how many other initiatives have come and gone, either because they burned out, weren’t well organized, or had a hard time with moving targets. Also, if your box of free stuff is the same as what 4 others are handing out, how do you know they aren’t getting stacked up in the closet…or traded for some sandals?

Another big difference is that we measure success differently. Those with a more bureaucratic mindset are trying to maximize meals or calories or kilograms per dollar, whereas we’re trying to provide the most vitamins, and color diversity (within a very lean budget). Sure, we started with beans and rice the first weeks, then we evolved the menu…and now we have over 8k families on the waiting list…

Which reminds me of an interesting phenomenon our distribution team has picked up on in the last weeks, people returning from Europe and from Ukraine (who were here a month ago). We suspected that Moldova would be a good “home away from home”, because Russian is spoken here, unlike Europe, because the culture and diet and lifestyle are pretty much the same, and most importantly, because the cost of living is 20-30% less than in neighboring Romania (and much less than western European countries). Anyway, as of last month a sociologist joined our team, she came back to Moldova this summer to “finish that next chapter”, but jumped right in to engaging our visitors from Ukraine, to help us better understand their plans, their needs and their skill sets (because we need to add a few more to the team).

So back to our waiting list that’s getting out of hand, in the next weeks we’re going to start the next level of food support, a mobile farmers’ market (check out the teasers below). We’re getting 2 trucks and will convert them with shelves and tents and an extra door, so people can enter, choose what they want, then be on their way. We think having a sense of control, especially about something as intimate as the food you put in your body, is undervalued. You’re staying in a strange place, without a job, not sure where all your friends and family are, not sure where you’ll be next month, but you know your way around the kitchen, how to satisfy the kids, and that’s not nothing.

Let’s focus on simple pleasures, one plate at a time.

Links:

• A short video about our work, and summer plans