Executive Director of Eat Greater Des Moines and HealthConnect Fellow
(October 2019-June 2021)
Expanding access to healthy food through systemic collaboration and innovation
Aubrey Alvarez’s work at Eat Greater Des Moines strives to ensure that all food in the community is used to feed people rather than going to landfills. Throughout the fellowship, she worked to build transparency in the food system. Alvarez gathered information on whether local grocers and convenience stores donated excess food, what they donated (beyond baked goods), and whether they funded transportation to deliver the food. The information was reviewed by partners who participate in food recovery efforts and compiled into a draft report in March 2020.
The pandemic shifted Eat Greater Des Moines’ focus to running Operation: Fresh Produce Drop, which distributed food boxes through the federal Farmers to Families program. With thousands of fresh food boxes delivered each week, Eat Greater Des Moines formed partnerships with organizations not served by the traditional food pantry network and developed systems for distributing perishable food quickly and safely. In June 2021, the organization purchased a refrigerated truck to share with community partners. These efforts are intended to demonstrate innovative strategies that can be replicated.
Alvarez now is identifying a technological solution to share data on the food rescue efforts of grocery and convenience stores. She continues to advocate with local, state, and federal leaders about the importance of supporting programs like Farmers to Families, which sunsetted in May, and other food rescue efforts.
Alvarez used data from the food rescue report and strategic messaging her organization developed to write two op-eds and pitch media stories that highlighted the importance of supporting innovative strategies to address hunger. Operation: Fresh Produce Drop distributed nearly 70,000 food boxes over the course of one year. The program expanded Eat Greater Des Moines’ partnerships with groups that were not connected to the emergency food system, including several of the fellows’ organizations, and reached 40,000 individuals weekly.
