Farmer Foodshare looking for new executive director

When Gini Bell plots her world takeover, she thinks in terms of garden produce.

“My evil plan is to take over the world with fresh fruits and vegetables,” she said.

Bell is the operations manager at the Chapel Hill nonprofit Farmer Foodshare, which provides local, fresh food to food-insecure populations in North Carolina.

Bell said North Carolina is worse than the national average when it comes to the number of food-insecure residents. A person is considered food-insecure when he or she doesn’t know where his or her next meal will come from.

“Depending on what county you look at, it can get really high,” said Bell.

The nonprofit is looking for someone to become the executive director after Margaret Gifford, the current executive director, announced on the organization’s website that she is moving to New York City.

The nonprofit is funded by grants along with individual and business contributions. It also partners with many other organizations in the area.

“We couldn’t do what we do without partners,” said Bell. “That’s huge for us.”

One of its partners is Strowd Roses, a nonprofit foundation working to support Chapel Hill and Carrboro.

“Our board has been impressed over the level of energy, careful thought and research that Margaret Gifford and her colleagues put into the development of the Farmer Foodshare program,” said Jennifer Boger, one of the board members for Strowd Roses, in an email.

Bell said she hopes the organization keeps growing to help more people and finds the right person to fill Gifford’s position.

Gifford founded Farmer Foodshare in 2009.

The organization started as a weekend project and has grown to serve seven counties with 18 donation stations.

Each station allows shoppers at a farmer’s market to buy extra food or give cash to the volunteers. The food is then given to those less fortunate. Bell said people asked the nonprofit to start a donation site.

“We never have gone out and asked people to start a donation station,” said Bell.

The nonprofit relies heavily on volunteers, Bell said. She said there is anywhere from 35 to 50 volunteers each week just at the stations.

UNC student Lindsay Miller started volunteering with Farmer Foodshare in June. She said she worked at a grocery store for a few years and saw a lot of food go to waste at the end of each day.

“I started volunteering with Farmer Foodshare because they help to fix that,” Miller said. She said the nonprofit helps to give the excess food to people who really need it.

The nonprofit also collects food not sold at the end of a farmer’s market to give to those who wouldn’t be able to afford fresh fruits and vegetables, Bell said.

The nonprofit started a wholesale trade market, Penny on the Pounds, a year and a half ago. The market allows farmers to sell fresh food wholesale to Farmer Foodshare, which then gives the food to hunger-relief institutions in the area.

Farmer Foodshare will host its fall fundraiser Wednesday at Steel String Brewery in Carrboro from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The event will feature speakers, healthy food and personal stories.

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