Photo: Food Bank of Iowa
(Des Moines, IA) -- Sixteen Iowa State Fair vendors donated 6,000 pounds of surplus food to Food Bank of Iowa at the close of this year’s fair. That's in addition to thousands of pounds of food donated by fairgoers Sunday.
The amount donated was half of last year's 12,000 pounds donated.
“With some vendors selling out of their most popular menu items by the last day of the fair, it only makes sense there would be fewer leftovers this year,” said Emily Shearer, Food Bank of Iowa’s senior manager of food acquisition and advocacy. “We are grateful to these generous fair vendors who want to prevent waste as well as share food with neighbors facing hunger. We’re also thankful for our volunteers who helped pick up food today and collected donations from fairgoers at all the gates yesterday.”
Food Bank of Iowa has been collecting food that goes unsold at the Iowa State Fair since 2018.
Most of the food was went to Hope Ministries and Catholic Charities. 791 pounds of bulk Barksdale chocolate chip cookies (baked) will be frozen and repackaged at Food Bank of Iowa this week and placed on inventory for quick distribution across the 55 counties FBOI serves. In addition to cookies, other food items donated included:
- Fresh produce including peppers, limes, lettuce, tomatoes and onions
- Hard-boiled eggs
- Milk
- Cheese
- Assorted bread (pita, buns)
- Pulled pork