Shakeup in food bank distributors brings temporary warehouse to Woodland
The change will not affect Yolo Food Bank
The California Department of Social Services is planning to switch food bank distributors, and establish a new distribution hub in Butte County with a temporary warehouse opening in Woodland next year.
But the switch isn’t likely to affect the Yolo Food Bank, which already has a warehouse in Woodland out of which it distributes food countywide.
California Emergency Foodlink, a Sacramentobased company, has been offering services to food banks throughout California since 1984. On Jan. 1, the California government plans to switch providers to CalFoods Logistics.
The food distribution companies work by ordering and scheduling food deliveries from the USDA to agencies under The Emergency Food Assistance Program, a USDA program that supplements food to vulnerable populations, according to Foodlink’s website.
The USDA delivers food straight to larger food banks, the rest is now stored in the Sacramento warehouse and shipped out from there. Certain food banks rely on USDA deliveries more than others.
Joy Cohan, the director of philanthropic engagement for the Yolo Food Bank, said her organization is not concerned about the switch. Only a small amount of distributions through the local food bank are provided by the government. Instead, of the 8 million pounds of food distributed to Yolo County residents each year, 6 million is donated through a recovery and collection program.
Donations come from over 100 businesses in Yolo County, including grocers, retail stores, farmers and food distributors and processors.
In order to make the decision, the CDSS created The Fresh Look Advisory Board in June of 2019 and hired a third- party company, Transplace, to assess how better to serve food banks statewide. Transplace recommended a Northern California Food Distribution Hub, commonly referred to as the Chico Hub, because that area was recommended as the best fit for serving smaller, rural communities, as well as the change in distribution providers.
The CDSS believes that these changes will lead to an annual saving of $ 1 million
The CDSS is currently reviewing spaces for the Chico Hub, but have signed a short- term lease in Woodland for a warehouse on Tide Court.
In a letter addressed to the USDA in October from John Moffatt, a partner with Nielsen Merksamer Parrinello & Gross, the firm representing Foodlink, Moffatt claims that the CDSS did not communicate clearly with them about the change, and did not notify them about the switch in providers until September.
“Despite Foodlink successfully operating California’s TEFAP food distribution for more than 30 years, receiving multiple awards and receiving no operational criticism,” the letter said. “CDSS has chosen to abruptly terminate Foodlink’s services as of the end of this year with virtually no notice or any explanation.”
A review of the minutes from The Fresh Look Advisory Committee shows that Foodlink representatives were present at meetings dating back to September 2019, but they often raised concerns about the decision and were not included in the subcommittees surrounding it.
Cal Foods Logistics CEO, Steve Linkhart, previously served as the director of the farm to family program with the California Association of Foodbanks and was a member of the committee. His company was registered with the state on June 29.
Foodlink representatives are concerned that the new company will not be able to handle the change set to begin on Jan. 1.
“We remain firm that the CDSS’ planning and procurement process was deeply flawed and will inevitably lead to a poor outcome,” Moffatt wrote. “Our state’s most vulnerable populations deserve better.”
John Healey, the chairman and CEO of Foodlink, noted his concerns in a column published in The Daily Democrat.
“The simple fact is that a competitive, transparent process did not happen, and now officials can’t even do the basic task of delivering food,” Healey wrote. He also noted that the Woodland warehouse appears to lack refrigeration units.
According to the Bureau Chief of CalFresh and Nutrition Programs with the CDSS, Brian Kaiser, the CDSS is confident the new warehouse will be ready next year.
“( The warehouse is) already leased and building improvements are well under way,” Kaiser said in an email. “We are in the process of redirecting USDA food there now and will be ready to assume January 2021 delivery of food.”