Last year, Operation Food Search invested $10 million to renovate its Overland facilities to better distribute fresh meat and produce and frozen food. Now that the updates are complete, the organization is continuing its mission to feed those who are food insecure — those who have fewer means to obtain food that is fresh and nutritious.
The number of people who need that support is high. Where they live also covers a broad swath of the St. Louis area. Operation Food Search President and CEO Kristen Wild told St. Louis on the Air that the organization works to meet the needs of more than 200,000 people each month in 25 counties in Missouri and Illinois.
“We have doubled our capacity to receive both shelf stable and fresh food. We doubled our warehouse racking, we doubled our freezer and cooler space. That is allowing us to accept more food donations and purchase more food to distribute to the community,” she said.
Wild shared that the additions to Operation Food Search’s facilities also make space to provide specific direct support to individual community members. “We've added a state-of-the-art, custom designed teaching kitchen that is aimed at increasing people's understanding of nutrition and how to cook meals on a budget, [and develop] healthy eating habits.”
As a food bank, Operation Food Search primarily supplies providers such as food pantries and religious institutions that do “boots on the ground” work. Its larger and updated facility includes space for partners to meet and imagine innovative plans to address the region's most vulnerable communities. One of the demographic groups Wild is most concerned about is children.
“In the area we serve, about one in six kids is food insecure. But even worse than that, if we look at St Louis city specifically, about [it’s] 31% of kids,” she said. “We've designed several programs that specifically target youth. We have our out-of-school meal programs that includes a summer meals program and an after school meal program. Then we have our Operation Backpack program that provides weekend assistance to kids.”
In Wild’s six-year tenure, she’s seen Operation Food Search services reach people from all walks of life. She said that most Americans are just one devastating event from needing assistance.
“I’m thinking about federal workers who may lose their jobs. I’m thinking about the people who are making it paycheck to paycheck,” Wild said. “And as we are looking at even greater inflation on food, people are going to have to make choices between whether they’re purchasing their week’s worth of groceries or if they’re picking up that prescription they need for a chronic health condition.”
“There’s a stigma surrounding food insecurity. As we walk down the street or we are in our own workplaces or kids are sitting in a classroom, we don’t know who needs the assistance because a lot of people hide the fact that they do.”
For more on Operation Food Search, including what the organization needs to continue to combat food insecurity and the distinction between “food insecurity” and “hunger,” listen to St. Louis on the Air on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or YouTube or click the play button below.
“St. Louis on the Air” brings you the stories of St. Louis and the people who live, work and create in our region. The show is produced by Miya Norfleet, Emily Woodbury, Danny Wicentowski, Elaine Cha and Alex Heuer. Jada Jones is our production assistant. The audio engineer is Aaron Doerr.
