Let no one take away the idea, however, that all this emphasis on "teaching people to fish" diminishes Foodlink's effectiveness as a regional food provider: With its heavy emphasis on public-private partnerships and aggressively reclaiming usable food, Foodlink distributes some 6 million pounds of food annually in its 10-county area, and in a time when most food banks are seeing distribution off 30 percent or more from peaks in the early '90s, Foodlink has managed to hold the loss to a relatively comfortable 20 percent.

Founded in 1978 as part of the local community-action program and an independent food bank since 1983, Foodlink was one of the region's earliest food banks, a founding member of Second Harvest, and was instrumental in the development of New York City's food bank. And just as it was an early arrival in the field of gathering donated food and administering its distribution throughout its community, it is now a national leader in the emerging model under which food banks move from charity to addressing the roots of hunger through building self-reliance by way of community economic development.

That process is already under way through such simple strategies as having a business developer on staff, a custom of using jobs in its warehouse and food-reclamation facility as a training program for under skilled unemployed folks, and other innovative activities including nutrition outreach and education and an on site farmer's market that's Rochester's largest WIC coupon redeemer for farm produce. It was in that context that the food bank stepped forward to offer space in its large facility (formerly a Wegman's market) for a community post office to replace an older facility that the Postal Service was closing. The food bank has also been active in the effort to bring inner-city supermarkets back to Rochester, an initiative that it initially supported through neighborhood economic development efforts and that now has been won through Mayor Bill Johnson's successful effort to lure the TOPS grocery chain back to the city with several retail locations.

Now, Foodlink's mission to "become an economic-development partner with food-related small businesses and micro enterprises by serving as a catalyst and incubator," as well as an ongoing commitment to provide job training through dignified work in the food bank and an equally strong commitment to community food security have been adopted as a formal part of its new Strategic Plan. Subject to funding -- they're aggressively seeking a $300,000 grant -- Foodlink intends to move its warehouse and food-reclamation activities to a new, larger facility in another part of town, opening up its current 100,000-square-foot structure as a potential neighborhood retail center and business incubator to house new, locally owned small business startups, restoring vibrant commerce to an inner-city neighborhood where thriving family businesses were once commonplace and perhaps may someday be again.

Ferraro sees this as the ultimate solution to the ongoing problem of hunger and poverty; but in the short run, it's safe to assume that Foodlink will also remain an exceptional example of competent, efficient food banking. With changes in the food industry making it more difficult than ever before for food banks easily to acquire cheap, easily handled surplus food, Foodlink has taken on the challenge of replacing that stream with reclaimed food products, using volunteer labor by community groups to hold down as much as possible the relatively costly effort of sorting and reclamation. But, Ferraro says, apparently only half-joking, if the cost per pound of reclamation continues to rise, at some point it will make literal sense for food banks to stop dealing with donated food and simply start raising money to buy food for distribution on the open market.

With a staff of 32 and an annual budget of about $1.75 million, Foodlink distributes food through 10 counties in Rochester and the Finger Lakes area.

All the feature stories on @GRASS-ROOTS.ORG's pages are reported and written by Robin Garr, a prize-winning journalist who has visited more than 500 innovative grassroots programs in all 50 states since 1990.

Browse his book, Reinvesting In America, at Amazon.com.

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