FirstFruits Marketing and Retail Partners Fill Local Food Shelves

Together with retail partners FirstFruits Marketing donated over 250,000 pounds of fresh apples to food shelves across the U.S. through the 2013 Take a Bite Out of Hunger campaign. This brings total program donations to 750,000 pounds over the three seasons since inception. FirstFruits Marketing created Take a Bite Out of Hunger with the goal of helping feed the underserved while bringing attention to the problem of food insecurity in the United States. This is the third year that FirstFruits Marketing has partnered to make fresh apple donations in a retailer’s name to local food banks, with the retailer contributing the cost of freight. This year Ahold and A&P/Pathmark joined previous participants Dave’s Marketplace, Sweetbay Supermarket, United Supermarkets and J.H. Harveys. ”We appreciate the support we get from our retail partners during this promotion,” says Jeff Schroeder, marketing manager at FirstFruits Marketing. “They help us raise awareness by distributing our bags and point-of-sale materials in their stores. This program is about more than just the donation, it is also about getting people engaged and educated about the issues surrounding hunger.” The problem of hunger extends beyond being hungry, say officials at FirstFruits; it is about food insecurity and  not having regular access to safe, affordable and nutritious foods. As of 2010, 15% of all U.S. households were food-insecure; 33% of those were children, 96% reported that the food they bought just did not last and they did not have money to get more and 94% reported that they could not afford to eat balanced meals, say officials add. To get involved in the program, email Jeff Schroeder, marketing manager at FirstFruits Marketing, at [email protected].