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The Fresh Foundation focuses on food security by supporting local farmers and working to reduce food equity barriers. These goals are met by distributing locally grown produce to food banks, school snacks, senior lunch programs, and low-income households, as well as providing meals during various community events. We now also run the Norwood Food Pantry and Norwood Senior Lunch at Town Hall and can expand upon food equity work through this additional programing. To learn more about any program mentioned here go to our "Food Resources" page.
Pantry Plot Program
Connecting Community
In 2019 the Fresh Foundation launched a produce distribution program called Pantry Plot Program. The program hosts garden plots at the Norwood Community Garden dedicated to growing food for our regional food pantries. Over the years we have been able to grow over 4000lbs of prodcue. Please contact us to volunteer. 510-205-4550
Backpack and lunch programs for kids
Kid focused collaboration
Fresh Foundation collaborates with the Telluride Foundation to provide funding and local food subsidies for West End Family Link and Norwood Food Pantry kids backpack programs (Totes for Hope, a program of Food Bank of the Rockies).
We also work to support the library lunch program in Norwood with hot lunch events and provide free snacks through our pantry.
Qualifying-Income CSAs, Food pantry, voucher programs and commerce
Connecting community with food
-With the Town Of Mountain Village the Fresh Foundation assists in providing qualifying-income CSA’s to Mountain Village residents.
-We run the Norwood Food Pantry and work to provide high quality local produce along with other free foods for community members.
-We offer EBT, double up, FoodRX and WIC vouchers at all of our farm stands and CSA programs.
-We partner with The WIC office to provide Family Wellness shares and seasonal WIC farm boxes.
-Through our local food wholesale program, we work to provide improved access to local food, reducing barriers for small businesses, institutions, and other 501(c)(3) partners. We also provide food subsidies whenever possible. To date we have provided over $80,000 in subsides for local food.
Senior Lunch
Supporting Our Seniors
Our Senior Lunch Service provides free, home-cooked meals to community members aged 60 and older every Monday. Meals are prepared with fresh, local, and organic ingredients whenever possible.
We believe food is best shared in good company, and we encourage seniors to join us onsite for the full experience. To-go meals are also available for those who are homebound, so everyone in our community can be nourished.
Cooking Demonstrations
Teaching Cooking Skills
Over the years, we offered cooking demonstrations at the Fresh Food Hub. These cooking demos highlighted produce recipes and easy ways to incorporate produce into meals on a budget. In 2022 we funded three “Cooking Matters” series through Tri-County Health. We are always looking for more ways to offer food education.
Other Non-profit Programs
Education Events
In its inception, The Hub has worked to provide free and sliding scale cooking classes, nutrition courses, and educational events. These events have always been focused around food, offering free meals along with a movie or speaker. To date, we have given hundreds of free plates of food to anyone attending. Looking into the future, we hope to host more of these events for the community.