FoodWorldNews sat down to speak with the Senior Director of the Walmart Foundation, Julie Gehrki who spoke about their partnership with Feeding America, their collaborative food program, "Fighting Hunger Together". One in 5 children who are facing hunger in America.
Food World News: So, we are now entering the "Spring Food Hunger Gap" A time of year when food donations drop drastically and a lot of children and families don't receive the support they need. Could you explain why this "gap" occurs every year?
Gehrki: Sure. At this time each year, the demand from food banks and food pantries increases greatly. They have short supply. During the holidays, people donate a lot of food, but it runs out and people need help. The food banks and food pantries are all doing incredible work. But we have 50 million people that suffer from food insecurity at some point in the year. One in five is a child, so we have a lot of demand and we have to help them with the supply.
FWN: Walmart teamed up with Feeding America to begin the "Fighting Hunger Together" program. Walmart will donate $3 million in grants. Could you explain how your partnership with FA came about and what Walmart is doing personally to help?
Gehrki: In May 2010 Walmart made a $2 billion commitment to hunger relief. This is just one piece of that work. We have been on a journey for the last couple of years and Feeding America is one of the main partners. We came to this work because we are the nation's largest grocer and we believe we have a responsibility to help. We believe we can make a difference. This campaign with Feeding America is about saying Walmart can do one piece, but we need our suppliers, our customers and our associates to help. This campaign is built to engage people and build a movement. We are asking customers to go to Walmart.com/hunger to vote for one of 300 agencies or food banks. They can also learn how they can donate and help out in their community. One-hundred of those agencies will win grants. You can check out all of it on the website, they are very transparent about how they use their funds.
FWN: Who's supplying the food for "Fighting Hunger Together"?
Gehrki: We have 10 major suppliers which is great. This is our third "Fighting Hunger Together" program. We started out with four suppliers and we now have more than double that, which is very exciting. Altogether they will donate 35 million meals this Spring, which can make a big difference. So it's Walmart, it's suppliers, it's our 140 million weekly customers and our 1 million associates here in the U.S. that are all getting involved. We start out at a simple level where people can learn about the issue, but then there are more avenues people can go down if they would like to help out more.
FWN: So people just need to sign up on Walmart.com/hunger and they can get started? Is it that simple?
Gehrki: Yea, you just need to go to Walmart.com/hunger, enter a zip code and location and the search tool will take care of the rest. A bunch of local organizations will pop up and then once you click on them, you can vote so they can win a grant. Also, down at the bottom of the website, there is a place you can click to donate. We think it's very important to connect people to organizations working to stop hunger everyday in their neighborhood. Walmart is only one piece in this.
FWN: Once the food is donated, how does it physically go out to the children and families in need?
Gehrki: Some of this will go through the food bank model. They take the money and donated food and they work with agencies in their communities to help distribute it. Feeding America has 200 food banks across the country and they work with churches, synagogues, soup kitchens, food pantries and all of those types of organizations. So, the suppliers donate their products to the food banks, who in turn work with their own communities and spread out the food.
FWN: That's great. But what do you think is causing this shortage in food?
Gehrki: I think people are facing tough economic times. We see families needing more at the end of the month or are struggling because one of the parents lost their job unexpectedly. A lot of people are faced with this issue who typically aren't. We are seeing many different ways people are affected by food shortages. Often it is just for a short time, but we want to make sure they have people to turn to.
FWN: What are some other ways Walmart is helping families in need? You have a cooking class which teaches families how to cook cheaper and healthier dinners.
Gehrki: Within our hunger relief and healthy eating work, we collaborate with food banks to make sure they have plenty of food. We have programs like "Breakfast in the Classroom", so kids start the day with a healthy meal. We also work with the YMCA during the summer when schools are out.
FWN: What is Walmart's ultimate goal? On your website it states that you would like to donate 1.1 billion pounds of food by 2015. How do you hope to get there?
Gehrki: We think addressing this issue will help everybody. By that time, we hope that our customers realize that these types of food shortages are occurring in areas around them and want to help. We hope that there are more kids starting their day with breakfast. Not many children start their day with food. The numbers are even worse during the summer. We'd love to solve all of these issues, but it will take the help of a lot of people. We're really excited about the impact we are having with our partners. We're happy to be one part of it.
