As a mother of six who was committed to homeschooling her children, Esther Jordan struggled to purchase nutritious ingredients to cook for her family.
Even so, she was committed to providing her family with nutritious meals. Finding a way to provide healthy meals for her family wasn’t just about making sure Esther’s kids had enough to eat; it was also her strategy for keeping her family’s health care expenses low. She believed that by providing nutritious food, her family would stay well and not have to visit the doctor as frequently. So she started to explore creative food sourcing strategies.
After learning that many grocery stores donate products close to expired dates to churches and other non-profits, Ester worked with her church to be able to collect food from local grocery stores that was past peak freshness but still healthy and good to eat. Soon, Esther and her family were picking up surplus food from area grocery stores on a weekly basis.
Over time, Esther started collecting more food than her family could use. In an effort not to waste anything, the family often stopped at parks while driving back home to Maryland to share food with some of Washington’s homeless residents. This outreach work would ultimately lead to the founding of Food for Everybody Every Day (F.E.E.D.).
Before partnering with the food bank, F.E.E.D. provided food to an average of 60 families “But the minute we started getting so much more food from the Capital Area Food Bank”, notes Esther, “we were able to reach many more people.”
