On July 25, The Farmlink Project facilitated the transport of 43,000 pounds of fingerling potatoes from Mountain Valley Produce in Colorado for distribution by the Manhattan Soup Kitchen in Manhattan, Kansas. Mountain Valley Produce specializes in fingerling potatoes and has partnered with The Farmlink Project this month to transport over 350,000 pounds of potatoes in seven shipments for distribution across Colorado, Kansas, Texas, and Montana.

The Manhattan Soup Kitchen is a nonprofit organization seeking to alleviate food insecurity in Kansas’ Riley county, where 17.5% of residents are estimated to be food insecure, five percentage points above the national average (statistics drawn from Feeding America). Over 600 people marked themselves as “interested” in the Facebook event titled “No Spud Left Behind,” a contactless drive through that provided participants with as many bags of potatoes they requested, recipes for fingerling potatoes, and a flyer containing information about the Manhattan Soup Kitchen.

Food Rescue US, a national nonprofit organization that sources donations from grocery stores and restaurants and delivers them to food banks and soup kitchens, coordinated this distribution effort. (Read more about Food Rescue US — Detroit here). The potatoes were distributed at the University Christian Church, a Christian church located in Manhattan, in conjunction with the Kansas State University Housing and Dining Service.