In the News

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Kay West from MountainXpress features Food Connection Mobile Meals hitting the road

Thank you to Mackensy at the Citizen Times for highlighting our Chef Dance Off! Our food donor partners danced for us to highlight this Stop Food Waste month fundraiser.

Curious about how Food Connection began? WNC Superheroes does a great job telling our story!

During COVID-19 Wicked Weed Brewing's Cultura was able to prepare 900 meals for Food Connection in one single week, thanks to a generous donation of raw goods from U.S. Foods. 

BLACK MOUNTAIN, N.C. (WLOS) — Two Buncombe County women have helped feed thousands of people in recent months by following the lead of an Asheville nonprofit they heard about on WLOS.  

"The winner, as selected by News 13 staff, is Flori Pate, of Asheville. She's the founder of Food Connection, a nonprofit that links restaurants with too much food to folks who don't have enough."

"Partnering with UNC Asheville, Deerfield, Packs Tavern, and The Crest Center, Food Connection connects the dots between those who have too much food and those who don’t have enough."

"Around the country hunger continues to be a growing problem while food waste is at an all-time high. On any given night in the Swannanoa Valley, a family can go to sleep without dinner as catering staff working any number of nearby events are disposing of untouched portions of nutritious, freshly prepared meals."

"He's not alone in his belief. Katie Button, co-owner of Nightbell and Curate in Asheville, also lives under the impression that what little food is left over from her busy restaurants must be either given to employees or thrown away.

'I'm not in the situation where I'm trying to figure out how how to get rid of surplus food often, but it is my understanding that I cannot donate leftover food, whether that's correct or incorrect,' she said."

"I think we can all agree that no fresh food should ever end up in the trash while people are going hungry.

I hadn’t been at my current job for more than one week as the Marketing Manager for UNC Asheville’s dining program before I heard about Food Connection and Flori Pate, the co-founder and creative director of Dig Local and co-founder and executive director of Food Connection."

Asheville, N.C. (WLOS) — "One local organization is taking local leftovers and making those “leftovers” available to those in need in our community!

Working under the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act, Asheville’s Food Connection is actively taking donations from restaurants and caterers and delivering those meals to agencies that provide meals for those in our community who need food."

Person of the Week connects those with too much food to those with too little food. ASHEVILLE, N.C. (WLOS) — "In a food city like Asheville, it seems unthinkable that so many go hungry. News 13's Person of the Week Flori Pate connects people with too much food and those who don't have enough. Her non-profit is now a staple in the city."

"Feeding the homeless typically involves things like pasta, canned vegetables and the occasional dessert. But in Western North Carolina, shelters and other nonprofits are dishing up grilled salmon, coconut curry chicken, beef brisket, lamb sliders, fresh vegetables and whole grains.

The surplus food comes from weddings, banquets and other special events hosted at venues."