Arkansas college food pantry pivots to meet coronavirus

Stocked & Reddie, the food pantry at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), has been helping university students and employees gain access to healthy food for about a year. But its membership—and operating practices—went through some big changes when the coronavirus crisis hit this spring.

Prior to the pandemic, the pantry had around 750 active members who would shop for food, and in exchange, spend time volunteering by stocking the pantry shelves or helping other members check out with their groceries. Those numbers swelled as COVID-related job losses hit the UAMS, the surrounding Little Rock community and Arkansas at large. “We’ve seen an increase in membership by 300 UAMS employees, with an additional 1,200 people being fed on a regular basis,” says UAMS Director of Nutrition Services Tonya Johnson, MS, RD, LD, CNSC.

The pantry quickly took on another 437 members from nearby Arkansas Children’s Hospital. “The hospital reached out because they didn’t have a food pantry and were seeing a need due to school closures and job loss.”

Stocked & Reddie had the resources to support more members. “Our local food distributors for campus, both have seen a decrease in sales with restaurant closures, so we’ve been able to get a significant amount of produce from them,” Johnson says. “We’ve also partnered with some farmers’ markets, and our local produce company is willing to donate produce that’s on the bubble, with a three-day shelf life.” The pantry also diverts leftovers from UAMS retail areas to make grab-and-go meals.

Read the full story from Food Management here.