Eighteen Pennsylvania food banks will be able to expand cold storage and transportation opportunities thanks to Governor Tom Wolf and members of the General Assembly who announced they will allocate $11.4 million from the state’s share of federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds to the charitable food network. The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, which covers a 27-county service territory that is twice the size of New Jersey, will receive $2,585,000 of it.
Joe Arthur, Executive Director of the Central Pennsylvania Food Bank, said, “We are extremely excited and thankful about the cold storage infrastructure grants announced today. This funding from the American Rescue Plan Act will be a game-changer to expand our provisioning of larger quantities of healthy fresh and frozen foods and support more local and regional food sourcing. We envision strategic investments in our cold chain capacity in plant and equipment, our truck fleet, and investments in our local partner agencies. We will be evaluating options carefully given the current tight supply chain dynamics, which greatly impact cold chain infrastructure, too.”
The Central Pennsylvania Food Bank shares tens of millions of pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables, servings of fresh milk, eggs, and lean, center of the plate protein with our neighbors every year. Sharing this highly nutritious, fresh and frozen food requires careful handling and vigorous compliance with cold chain food safety regulations. Large scale refrigerator and freezer space, as well as refrigerated trucks and delivery containers are a necessity. Support from the American Rescue Plan will allow us to expand our opportunities to rescue more good food from farms, packaging plants, and grocery retailers. Read more…