“I love my job,” said Scott Sacrey, food resource manager for Feed My People Food Bank. “I get to go out, particularly when the weather’s a little warmer, I get to go out to the farms and talk to individuals about hunger insecurity and how they can partner with us.”

Sacrey is from Michigan and is now an adopted western Wisconsinite. He runs Feed My People’s “Farm to Food Bank” program, which works with food producers to get fresh food to people facing food insecurity.

A knock on a farmer’s door might arouse suspicion, but people quickly make regional connections and start sharing with Sacrey. “When I’m about 35 to 45 minutes into the conversation, I find out that they’ve experienced hunger insecurity, their family has experienced it, or they’re helping others in the community or help out with a food pantry.”

Feed My People Food Bank operates in 14 western Wisconsin counties, from Sawyer and Washburn to Pepin and Buffalo counties. They serve more than 250 food pantries and run pop-up pantries, food backpack programs, and school markets. And they help distribute the equivalent of almost six million meals each year.

When food insecurity is addressed with local food, community benefits also flow back to farmers and producers. Feed My People Food Bank wants to shorten the chain between food production and distribution. “We decided to become more aggressive in not only meeting food insecurity but being proactive in searching for long-term solutions, to finding stable, long-term food sources for western Wisconsin, for everybody, regardless of their background or economic or cultural situations,” Sacrey said.

Wisconsin’s Local Food Purchase Assistance program (LFPA) has been a “game-changer,” putting these efforts on overdrive.

LFPA is a statewide program that shares Feed My People’s goals. It buys local and culturally relevant food from 265 farmers across the state for free distribution through partners serving underserved communities.

Its first funding came through the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) as part of a massive national investment signed into law in March of 2021 by President Joe Biden to aid in economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When I’m in the distribution center, and I hear that LFPA is being delivered, I wait, because I can’t wait to see what comes in,” Sacrey said. “We get local produce that’s in demand and desired by the people that we serve. We can support local farmers and neighbors and keep those dollars right here in western Wisconsin. We keep the freshness and the quality standards needed and even desired by people.”

Staff and clients have noticed an increase in quality with LFPA deliveries of fresh food, Sacrey said. He shared their words with Wisconsin Farmers Union members and USDA and White House officials at an event this fall in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. Some describe the options as “awesome,” and he’s even heard the ultimate youth compliment, “rizz.”

LFPA food distributed through Feed My People even included giant Wisconsin-grown watermelons this year. “I cannot believe someone grew this in Wisconsin,” Sacrey told attendees. “I had no idea that local people can grow this type of produce in this type of environment.”

When Sacrey visits with farmers, it can be a “light bulb” moment to see food they grew distributed to people in all corners of the state. “I’ve never seen a gentleman so emotional about that,” Sacrey recalled one farmer’s response. “I just love that it’s staying in my area. I love that I know that I get to participate in this program, be able to receive economic benefits from it, but also to be able to have an impact on my neighbors.”