Philly hunger nonprofit Philabundance has launched an innovative program to benefit farmers, retailers, the environment, and the hungry. Its secret weapon? Cheese.
Here’s how it works: The retail line is produced by Lancaster farmers with milk produced by their cows, just like any other cheese. For every block sold, the retailer donates $1 to Philabundance, which then pays its farming partners to turn surplus milk into the same cheese, which they then provide to hungry Philadelphians for free.
It’s a win for everyone: The retailers make money; consumers get a delicious local cheese; the farmers are paid to use milk that otherwise would have gone to waste; hungry Philadelphians get fed; and the environment avoids the greenhouse gasesproduced by wasted milk.
“People say, ‘I’m going to support this company because I like what they’re doing in the world,’” says Bowdler. “So if you want to volunteer, great. But if you just want to buy cheese, buy our cheese.”
The idea stemmed from a problem—albeit a good one to have—that Philabundance and a few other local food banks faced last year, when the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System gave them funding to purchase 12 tankers full of surplus milk—enough to stock a dozen grocery stores. “We were trying to figure out what to do with all this milk so it didn’t go to waste,” says Retamar, the nonprofit’s Communications Coordinator. That’s when it struck them: Turn it into cheese.
That project resulted in 66,000 pounds of cheese that Philabundance, along with Central PA Food Bank and Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank, distributed to clients. (Philabundance gave away 27,000 pounds.) Farmers, meanwhile, earned $165,000 for their part. It was a resounding success for all. “That’s when we decided to run with it,” Retamar says. Since then, Philabundance has connected with two Lancaster farmers to continue the project—a dairy farmer with excess milk; and a cheese maker down the road.
