How the Bar Harbor Food Pantry Gets the Food it Gives Out

Like most things, how a food pantry operates seems simple at first glance, you get food from people and companies and give it out to those who need it. But, as usual, the reality is much more complicated. 

A good place to start is the difference between a food bank and a food pantry. In the United States, a food bank is a nonprofit organization that collects food products from partnerships with food production and distribution companies, farmers, and other organizations in the food industry. They also operate large-scale food drives. They then store the products and distribute them to food pantries, community kitchens, and shelters that give out the food. 

There are over 200 food banks in the US, but in Maine, we have one, Good Shepherd Food Bank. They provide us with free foods donated from the USDA, companies, and other organizations. They also sell us foods they purchase at a discounted rate, so our money goes further. In addition, they provide a number of other services, like Mainers Feeding Mainers where they purchase produce from local farms on our behalf, and Food Rescue from Hannaford, where we go to the local Hannaford and pick up[ food approaching its sell-by date. 

A typical view of one part of the Pantry’s shelves.

Now onto our Pantry operations. 

Food we collect from people, whether at one of our collection sites or through a food drive, accounts for around 10% of what we give out. Food that partners like Hannaford and Healthy Acadia donate accounts for about another 10%. And food that we get from USDA programs for free amounts to about 10% or so. The rest is food that we purchase either from wholesalers or at a reduced cost from Good Shepherd Food Bank.

The Pantry provides our community with pantry staples, flour, pasta, rice, beans, soups, tuna, etc., dairy products, fresh produce (both purchased and donated), and bread, bakery, and deli items donated by Hannaford. We are a “choice model” pantry, which means that people come in and pick out what they want from our shelves, instead of us packing boxes for them. This model reduces food waste by not giving people food they will not use, allows customers to tailor the assistance they need, and gives customers a sense of dignity and control over their food. 

In 2021, our food purchases totaled $121,423. That number is what we paid for and does not include the approximately 30% of foods that we received for free. This year, we are on track to spend over $140,000 purchasing food. The major increase is due to more need in our community (more on that in a later blog) and higher food costs. Keep in mind that this is JUST food purchases. It doesn’t include rent, insurance, equipment and maintenance, or staffing costs.  (For a breakdown of our revenue and expenses click here for our 2021 Annual Report)

This might seem like a hefty price tag, but when you consider that over 350 households sought out food last year, many more than once a month, you begin to understand the scale at which the Bar Harbor Food Pantry operates. 

As you can see, getting healthy food to those who need it is a lot more complicated than just collecting food from donors and giving it out. It requires a statewide (nationwide really) charitable food system of warehouses, trucks, drivers, producers, and receivers

Donations from the Post Office Food Drive in May. We received over 3000lbs of food. It lasted two weeks and did not include any perishable foods.