Throughout late July, FRN’s Chief Operating Officer, Katie Jones and I conducted five public Roundtable Talks with a variety of FRN stakeholders to discuss our new strategic framework. The framework is a blueprint for how FRN plans to recover surplus food to feed everyone who is hungry in the U.S. This is no small task and while FRN outlines the roles we can play in this critical work, we also understand we are one agent of several organizations necessary to accomplish this goal. The framework details how FRN plans to continue our bedrock work--the work we’ve always done to feed those who are hungry in the United States with recovered food, and how we will in concert with that work, get underneath the pervasive mechanisms of economic ills that ensure so many millions of people each year must rely on food assistance to get by.

The conversations with our community were inspiring, illuminating, and at times, overwhelming because of the sheer complexity of the issue. Katie and I have outlines our key takeaways from these conversations as a way to condense the valuable information that came from these talks, and I will say, one of the most overwhelming takeaways we heard from current student leaders, alums, dining providers, funders, our partner agencies who receive our donated food and our National Board of Directors? FRN needs to step forward in this way to do this work. FRN is ready.

Katie

What struck me: How much people value this community. Particularly in the pandemic, I think people desire connection and our network facilitates them connecting with people that share a common passion, which is critical right now—recovering food to feed people who are experiencing hunger.  

What I’m most excited about: Sharing our learning in real-time with our stakeholders. We have ambitious goals for this year, a year when our work is most critical, and I am curious to see how our work goes and share what we learned and how that will change our work moving forward.

Regina

 What struck me: Despite the hardship of the pandemic, people remain committed to helping. Our stakeholders see the shifts we outlined in our framework as critical to supporting a better food system once the pandemic is over. More than ever we have the momentum and expertise to make permanent improvements throughout the food system that won’t breakdown when system disruptions occur—because we know they will occur.

What I’m most excited about: Increasing the communication networks across all of our stakeholders to accomplish this vision of now, and our longer-term vision of dismantling the systems that cause people to not have enough food in the first place when our country produces more than enough, and building in its place, a just and equitable food system that is inclusive of everyone. It’s very intimidating to be so transparent about our work and by offering this very quick feedback loop for everyone to respond to, but this is exactly how we can get to a better food system on the other side of the pandemic and I’m excited that so many people remain in the corner of FRN to make that happen.

Takeaways

• Stakeholders appreciate a holistic approach to our work which is a strategic shift for us.

• People agree that the work of feeding all people who are food insecure with surplus food feels right.

• The strategic framework is exciting to people and we are moving in the right direction.

• The systems change work of workforce development, advocacy is exciting to people and they want to be more involved with the creation of this intentional work.

• Stakeholders are curious about our workforce development work, but it is still nascent so we need more dialogue with partners to make sure we are building the curriculum to ensure it fits emerging business needs.

• FRN is committed to better understanding positive unintentional outcomes, but we need to remain vigilant to unintended consequences which is why we are creating a rapid feedback loop that is transparent to our stakeholders. This feedback loop and progress updates will help FRN learn faster, make changes quicker, and stay the course.

• Our students and alums are committed more than ever despite the pandemic.

• Racial equity has always been part of FRN’s work and this new strategic framework is a way to codify it, through the use of disaggregated data and focusing the effort of our work in new ways.

You can listen to a Roundtable Talk where Katie and I outline the strategic framework and several takeaways.