Food Pantry | 2Chicks And A Farm

Community Food Program

Background

Early in 2025, the temperatures locally, like many places in the US, took a steep dive and stayed there for awhile. As we started to think about how we could help folks living on the streets, who’d lost power, or who were going through a rough tine financially, food became the common denominator.

So, we cooked soups and stews and made packed lunches and distributed them to those in need of food in the local community. After being reminded of the positive impact something as simple as a meal could make in the day of a fellow human being, Theresa and I decided to make providing meals an ongoing endeavor.

Over the next few months, with the help of generous donations from others in the community, we expanded the food program into a three distinct, but related areas:

Meal Delivery
A Food Pantry
A Community Garden

We are currently not a registered non-profit however, we are working on obtaining 501(c)(3) Charitable Organization status.

Meal Delivery

During the winter and early spring months we were able to provide on average 40-50 homecooked meals to folks going through food insecurity or illness, every week to ten days.

With the arrival of the growing season, time constraints have made deliveries less frequent, but we continue to look for creative ways to meet a need. That may mean switching things up and making breakfast instead of dinner. We recently made 20 stops, delivering homemade breakfast burritos and blueberry waffles to 70 people.

Food Pantry

While a single home cooked meal is always appreciated, folks going through food insecurity need a little more help than just that. The food pantry provides access to food and household staples and snacks, including eggs laid by our farm chickens and produce grown in the Community Garden, and items purchased from the store or donated.

When possible, we also have gas cards on hand. Individuals or families can visit the pantry up to once a week and help themselves to any items available. Some folks we see only once or twice due to an unexpected bill or illness, some sporadically based on the number of hours available to work, and others visit routinely on an ongoing basis. No questions asked.

Community Garden

Last year we purchased a second 14 x 100-foot Hoop House (poly growing tunnel) with the intention of using it for the farm. With the establishment of the food program, we decided to utilize this Hoop House as a Community Garden, supplying produce for the pantry and ingredients for Meal Delivery.

Memorial Day weekend 2025, in conjunction with a Yard Sale benefiting the food program, we held a plant donation and planting event to get things kick started. We have since added garden weed prevention cloth and a watering system and the veggies are prolific.

What isn’t used fresh is being frozen for use over the winter. Hope you all like zucchini, squash and tomatoes!