A Federal Visitor with a Rural Mission

USDA’s Under Secretary for Rural Development Lisa Mensah

On Thursday, January 21, Second Harvest Food Bank in Watsonville received a visit from a Presidential appointee. While her office is in Washington, D.C., her concerns are completely rural. Lisa Mensah serves as the USDA’s Under Secretary for Rural Development. In a nutshell, the agency supports essential services and economic development—in rural areas only—through loans, grants, and technical assistance.

As she walked through Second Harvest’s 35,000 square-foot facility, past towering shelves stacked with thousands of pounds of dry foods and into a massive, solar-powered refrigerator keeping produce fresh for delivery, Mensah was touring a valued rural resource which her agency helped make happen.

A decade ago, Second Harvest Food Bank needed to expand and modernize its facility to better sort, store, and distribute surplus and donated food and produce. Their goal of reducing hunger and malnutrition in Santa Cruz County would get a big boost from the renovation, which would allow them to reach more children and families who had fallen on hard times.

Many generous donors stepped up to support the expansion, which included 70,000 cubic feet of expanded refrigeration and enhanced capacity for programming and nutrition education. But it was a loan from the USDA’s Rural Development agency that helped solve some tricky financing challenges and allowed Second Harvest to complete the final phases, including truck docks and pallet racks. The renovated and expanded operations began serving the community in the Summer of 2011.

Second Harvest CEO Willy Elliott-McCrea explained some of the non-profit’s programs to Mensah and her small entourage as they made their way down aisles of food donated by grocery stores, farms, individuals, and others. The Under Secretary heard about Second Harvest’s Passion For Produce program, which goes beyond giving out food to engaging and energizing participants with classes, led by peers, on preparing healthy meals and encouraging active lifestyles. Mensah seemed to appreciate the program’s focus on nutrition education and community engagement.

She also heard about how Second Harvest shepherds many of their “clients”—families and individuals receiving assistance—towards becoming active friends and allies who, no longer in need themselves, help the Food Bank help others. Under Secretary Mensah toured Second Harvest with her California state counterpart, Janice Wadell, also visiting El Pajaro’s CDC Commercial Kitchen Incubator and the Watsonville Civic Center, where she met to discuss expanding broadband access in the region.

After the Under Secretary left for her next meeting, Elliott-McCrea reflected on the Rural Development Loan that helped Second Harvest reach a new level of community service.

“[The loan] has enabled us to become a transformational agent of change by providing the space and ability to distribute millions more pounds of healthy food, as well as help our families take greater ownership and responsibility for their own health and wellness.”