When Liz Craig started as BackPack Program Coordinator at Common Ground Farm in 2022, the program had been a very small part of the budget for over 10 years, she said.
Like other backpack programs, this one was designed to meet the nutritional needs of food-insecure students on weekends and holidays when school meals are not available. It serves four elementary schools and one middle school in Beacon, N.Y., where Common Ground is located, traditionally relying on grocery donations from the local food bank.
“The main issue is that what we get from the food bank is highly processed, typically the food products that the big box stores reject,” said Craig. “I figured there had to be a way to include more local produce each week.”
Since the program is operated by Common Ground Farm, which grows vegetables on four acres of land and runs the Beacon Farmer’s Market every Sunday, she has access to fresh produce and could occasionally throw in a head of lettuce. But in the 2023-24 school year, Common Ground was able to contribute about $3,000 worth of locally grown vegetables to the BackPack Program.
While that was rewarding, Craig also noticed that insufficient protein was a real issue. A fresh infusion of funding from the Redl Foundation, established by a Beacon family, and a grant from New York Food for New York Family Ag and Markets helped on that end. “With those funds, we could include foods like canned tuna, beef jerky and other sources of protein that kids could easily prepare and add to a meal or snack,” she said.
Now the backpacks provide a better balance of fresh foods and nutritious, shelf-stable products. Common Ground also distributes recipes to guide recipients on preparing less familiar produce.
Common Ground is transitioning from traditional backpacks to bags of food.
In addition to the Redl Foundation and Food Bank of the Hudson Valley, the program is supported by Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union and the United Way of the Dutchess Orange Region.
Teamwork extends impact
Craig also collaborated more closely with social workers in the Beacon schools to identify families in need and communicate with them on behalf of Common Ground. “When I started, there were only 19 children benefiting from the BackPack Program. I knew there were more food-insecure students beyond the neediest families,” she said. “Sometimes a family needs our support temporarily through a tough time.”
This year, social workers anonymously identified many more deserving students and letters were sent home to their parents asking if they’d like to participate in the program. The response tripled the reach—there are now 60 families receiving the makings of six meals every Friday over 35 weeks.
But that doesn’t cover the weeks when school is out in the summer. So Common Ground is piloting a summer program to fill that gap.
A distribution center has been set up at Beacon Recreation Center where families can pick up bags of food every week. Along with produce from Common Ground, there are vegetables harvested by Green Teens, an urban gardening program that hires and pays teenagers to grow food and learn about nutrition.
Common Ground also issues Greens4Greens coupons, which allows families already using SNAP/EBT to access fresh produce from the Beacon Farmer’s Market. Other needy households are given $200 to shop the Farmer’s Market. And milk and egg vouchers are available so families can purchase those staples directly from a local supermarket.
The numbers are larger in the summer than during the school year, because children are not getting any food at breakfast or lunch, said Craig. And children don’t age out of food insecurity, she added, which is why in middle school, they can now opt into the always anonymous program.
“The BackPack Program focuses on dignity; giving people the best we have to offer, not just leftovers,” she said.