When The Abbey Group was chosen by the USDA to be a Farmers to Families Food Box Program distributor at the beginning of May, it was hard to fully imagine the impact that this program could have on our friends and neighbors in need. Since starting distribution over five weeks ago, we have served hundreds of thousands of boxes of food to thousands of local families. This has amounted to approximately 2.4 million pounds of perishable food. Given the initial program end date of June 30th, The Abbey Group can proudly say that our contract with the USDA has been extended to the end of August. 

 

The USDA has contracted with the Abbey Group to distribute over 2,700,000 pounds of food (266,000 boxes) to Vermont families. In collaboration with the state of Vermont and the Vermont Foodbank, food boxes of mixed cheese and butter, Brakebush chicken, fresh produce, and milk from HPHood Dairy, Monument Farms Dairy, Thomas Dairy and Kingdom Creamery will continue to be distributed between July 1 through August 31st.

 

In this next round of distribution, 440,000 pounds of VT produce is planned to be handed out. Reinhart Food Service, Black River Produce, Green Mountain Farm to School, Healthy Roots Collaborative, the Center for Agricultural Economy and Deep Root Organics are valued partners in this project.

 

Additional Information

For more information regarding the Farmers to Families Food Box Program visit the USDA’s website.

Founded in 1982, The Abbey Group is a family-owned food service management company. We specialize in handcrafted foods that use local ingredients. For more information visit The Abbey Group website.

For upcoming program pick-up locations and information, follow The Abbey Group on Facebook and Twitter.