Food Resilience Team: Introduction

The mission of the Food Team is to promote local self-sufficiency, nurture local food production, and ensure adequate food provisions at select locations such as Disasters Hubs during both usual times and emergencies. The team's strategic focus on increasing local food production and preservation amplifies food security, underpinning the fundamental principle that "farms + food bank = food security." Their four pillars of work are (1) grow, (2) preserve, (3) store, and (4) distribute.

Pre-Disaster Responsibilities

Before disaster the Food Team helps educate the public about the need to store a minimum of two weeks of food. It also teaches about the types of food to store, how to store it safely, and how to prioritize food that is in the freezer and the refrigerator.

In addition, the Food Team encourages self-sufficiency through household gardens, community gardens and P-patches, community food forests, and public farmland. 

The Team works with Disaster Hub Team leadership and the leadership of community emergency centers, like the Disaster Medical Center, the Child Reunification Center, and Severe Weather Shelters to ensure they are all equipped with adequate food supplies.

It addresses ongoing food insecurity by working with food pantries and other nonprofits.

Finally, it works with your Anytown Prepares leadership, the community Emergency Manager, and local community officials to create an emergency food distribution plan. This requires memorandums of understanding with local food suppliers like restaurants and grocery stores.

Disaster Responsibilities

When activated, the Food Team supports Disaster Hub Team leadership and the leadership of community emergency centers, like the Disaster Medical Center, the Child Reunification Center, and Severe Weather Shelters to ensure that these centers have enough food to meet their needs.

When activated by the Emergency Manager, the Team participates in carrying out the emergency food distribution plan. 

Recovery Responsibilities

During recovery, the team helps the community return to normal modes of getting food such as through grocery stores and food pantries.