Nov 163 min read

Second Harvest’s Shift in Serving

By Winston Chu 11/6/2024

Founded in 1988, Second Harvest of Silicon Valley works to ensure that every family in Santa Clara and San Mateo has nutritious food to eat. The nonprofit organization’s mission is to end hunger; every month, they provide around $200 worth of groceries each to 500,000 people in the community. Yet this holiday season, they aspire to better serve their clients through significant changes that will improve distribution operations.

Second Harvest relies on volunteers and donations to sustain their organization. Across two warehouses in Silicon Valley, volunteers work in assembly lines at sorting centers to fill boxes with a variety of produce—which is provided by Second Harvest’s 400 partners for free. In fact, half of the produce they distribute is supplied directly from farms. The produce boxes, along with other dry goods and proteins such as rice, beans, milk and eggs, are transported to drive through distribution centers. In this style of distribution, more volunteers help load the food into cars or shopping carts for clients who do not have vehicles or prefer to wait in line.

While the drive through model of distribution has been successful, in August, Second Harvest switched back to the widely implemented method prior to the pandemic: the farmers’ market style. Under a farmers’ market distribution, clients exit their car and choose the food they prefer, rather than being handed a box and speeding off. Tracy Weatherby, Second Harvest’s Vice President of Programs and Services and Strategy and Advocacy, explains that the farmers’ market is the most respectful way to distribute food. Similar to a supermarket, people are able to choose the food they want, instead of being given a box of pre-selected food.

Aside from being more considerate, the farmers’ market distribution style also aims to streamline and optimize the distribution process. Boxing food in warehouses required a higher number of volunteers to maintain operations, as per Weatherby—now that food is no longer boxed, a relatively smaller number of volunteers is needed. By allowing clients to pick the food they want, the chance of potential food waste is also reduced. Additionally, the organization can gain insight into the consumers food preferences, and coordinate accordingly with partners to better fulfill demand.

Furthermore, Weatherby believes the farmers’ market style is better suited for community building. Clients, especially the elderly, view distribution as a chance to talk and spend time with others. It also provides communities the opportunity to access other essential resources, such as CalFresh, California’s food stamp program that provides financial assistance to low income families; voter registration; and housing assistance. As a result, the farmers’ markets revive the social aspect of food distribution.

“A large reason why we brought back client choice is because we lost the social aspect of food distribution entirely. For years, many of our clients would arrive to stand in line well in advance of when they needed to. I believe that in many cases, this was because they enjoyed being able to talk to other people and meet with their friends,” Weatherby said.

The switch has raised concerns over accommodating the disabled and the elderly. However, Weatherby states distributions are set up so volunteers can get food for those who are not able to stand in line themselves. Almost every site had a rough start, but were able to problem-solve to ensure the best service for their community, as Justin Yang, assistant manager of the Crosspoint Church site, confirms.

“Through this model, we serve over 800 families every other Saturday, choosing the foods that are best for them to give these clients a sense of control. Additionally, by switching to a farmers’ market setup, we can make the process much safer; the old drive-through system was dangerous because the traffic increased the risk of accidents when cars were waiting to receive service,” Yang said.

Ultimately, the target is for all distribution sites to be transitioned to farmers’ markets by the end of June 2025. Through this transition, Second Harvest empowers clients with choice and strengthens community ties, moving closer to a future where no family has to go hungry.

About the Contributors

Winston Chu

Writer

Winston Chu is a junior at Leland High. This is his second year in Journalism, and his first year as a movie columnist. He enjoys speech and debate, watching television series, and sleeping.