By KWQC Staff
Published: Sep. 15, 2022 at 2:58 PM CDT
DAVENPORT, Iowa (KWQC) – The River Bend Food Bank received a special delivery this week from an Illinois farm designed to give back to others.
The Nayak Farms Sweet Corn Initiative was created to tackle food insecurity in the Midwest by donating large amounts of fresh, delicious, sweet corn to the States of Illinois and Iowa, according to a media release.
On Wednesday, Nayak Farms delivered more than 7,000 pounds of their sweet corn to the food bank.
The owner, Dr. Dave Nayak, splits his time between his farm in Gardner, Illinois and Chicago, where he also operates the Strength to Love Foundation and the Strength to Love Asthma & Allergy Free Clinic, according to the release.
“We at Nayak Farms are deeply committed to tackling food insecurity in Illinois and the Midwest. The River Bend Food Bank serves many food-insecure Iowans and Western-Illinoisians who do not know where their next meal may come from,” Nayak said in the release.
“We are honored to donate our sweet corn to feed those in Iowa and Illinois who are in need. Further, we hope that the model we have created will help incentivize more farmers throughout our wonderful state and beyond to donate a portion of their land to help address food insecurity. Because at the end of the day, we all have an inherent responsibility to be a good neighbor to those around us in our communities.”
Chris Ford, food sourcing manager at the food bank, said, “Food donations from manufacturers and grocers, along with subsidies from the USDA and government programs, have decreased (some dramatically) over the past few months. To maintain the support our hunger-relief partners need, we’ve had to increase the amount of food we’re purchasing by about 20%. Donations like this from Nayak Farms help us provide fresh, healthy food at a time when more people in our community need support.”
Nayak Farms has donated more than 100,000 pounds of sweet corn to six of the eight major Illinois Foodbanks and is on pace to donate 200,000 pounds this 2022 harvest season, according to the release.
Their goal, according to the release, is to donate more than 1 million pounds of their sweet corn and other fresh produce to fight food insecurity in Illinois and throughout the Midwest by 2026.
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