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    Eden Prairie Local News
    Home»Community Service»Pulses of food: EP food distribution effort fills growing need
    Community Service

    Pulses of food: EP food distribution effort fills growing need

    Brad CanhamBy Brad CanhamFebruary 19, 2021Updated:February 25, 20213 Mins Read
    Using an innovative food distribution model, Eden Prairie residents Krystal Queen and Vanessa Nordstrom of the The Food Pulse are surging healthy food to areas of need. Photo credit- Sierra Blake

    People are hungry and Vanessa and Krystal are hefting boxes of food.

    In wind, blizzard, and double digit below temperatures they heft boxes of food into car trunks, truck backends, and SUV rear rows most Wednesdays for anyone in need.

    According to Vanessa Nordstrom, The Food Pulse model is simple “Find the food in Abundance and share it across areas in high need,” she noted.

    In Eden Prairie that pulse of food has cars lining up around 3 pm on Wednesdays for a 3:30 pm distribution at 6233 Baker Rd, Eden Prairie, MN 55346 (specifically, the parking lot on the southside of Crosstown Lifetime Fitness).

    Vanesa Nordstrom of the Food Pulse readies another box of food for distribution. Photo credit- Sierra Blake

    “On average we are serving 100-200 cars per week,” said Nordstrom.

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    The Wednesday distribution is scheduled to continue every Wednesday until the end of April, 2021, according to Krystal Queen.

    The consistent Wednesday distribution is the goal, noted Nordstrom. Updates on the status and alerts regarding the Wednesday distribution are posted on The Food Pulse Facebook page.  

    Food “pulse” partners sought

    The goal is to continue partnering with all the other organization’s doing food distribution to areas of need and spread the communication so people can find the food quickly and efficiently across the metro.

    The effort to “pulse” food to areas of need began at the end of November, 2020, said Queen and has served thousands since that time.

    Meats, dairy, fresh fruits and vegetables and starches are common items in the boxes distributed by the Food Pulse. Photo credit- Sierra Blake

    According to Nordstrom, The Food Pulse welcomes expanding their relationship with “restaurants, farmers markets, etc. to expand the reach and offset the costs for businesses.” Organizations seeking to partner with the Food Pulse can make contact by ending an email to thefoodpulse.fighthunger@gmail.com 

    “Now that a full service model in place,” according to Nordstrom, next steps include “getting the word out to the restaurants and any business or food shelf dealing with food that needs to be repurposed or redirected if there is too much, and then brought to a place of need.”

    The Food Pulse also has needs. ” We need to expand the network, the volunteers and the mission,” according to Nordstrom.

    “The numbers seem to go up weekly,” noted Nordstrom “The drop is usually starting around 3:30 PM and we are just about out of food by 5pm most weeks.”

    The Food Pulse is currently sourcing all the food at Heartland in Shakopee. This food includes farm-to-family boxes, donations from local grocery stores like Hyvee, as well as other vendors with excess food. This food is then passed on to The Food Pulse to distribute – and to heft – one box at a time.

    Individuals and organizations seeking to help in The Food Pulses efforts are encouraged to contact thefoodpulse.fighthunger@gmail.com 

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