Fallbrook Food Pantry

Market DistributionQualified families are entitled to food items based on family size and are determined by a menu that is developed each week, which is planned to provide balanced meals for 4-5 meals per week. This amounts to approximately 10-12 pounds per person within each client household. On the last Wednesday of every month, participants may receive fresh produce from the Pantry at the Life Point Church parking lot. The Pantry distributes governmental commodities delivered by the San Diego Food Bank to clients. The Pantry distributes Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP) items to clients during the third full week of each month. The Pantry also offers this program to senior clients during extended hours on Wednesday afternoons during the scheduled EFAP distributions weeks. The Senior Food Program or Brown Box is a USDA program designed to improve the health of low-income seniors who are 60 years or older, residents of San Diego County, and meet program income guidelines. The Senior Food Program provides qualified clients with a monthly food package containing items such as canned vegetables, fruit juice, pasta, milk, cereal, canned meat, and a block of cheese. The Pantry coordinates the Adopt-A-Family program with community members and churches to provide children under 16 years of age with holiday gifts. During the COVID-19 lockdowns, farmers were unable to sell produce to restaurants and grocery stores in as high a capacity as usual. Due to federal government programming, food banks across the nation benefitted from the farmers' excess crops at no cost, while the government paid the farmers for their goods. The Pantry distributed the excess crops received to its clients during 2022 and 2023.

Education/Learning CenterRooted in Wellness is a comprehensive, evidence-based curriculum tailored for youth and adults, centered around horticulture, ecosystems, and daily life skills. It offers educational opportunities in health and wellness, nutrition, occupational development, and personal growth to communities facing diversity, equity, and inclusion disparities. By utilizing our educational approaches alongside healthcare monitoring, Rooted in Wellness aims to tackle issues such as food insecurity, socioeconomics, and social determinants of health. The program is designed to mitigate inequities that contribute to the development of diseases in at-risk and disadvantaged communities. Rooted in Wellness is a very diverse curriculum that can be implemented into any environment: food banks and pantries, schools (public, private, charter, home school co-ops), colleges/universities, churches, recreation and senior centers, youth and adult clubs, retirement communities, including Special Health Districts, Indian Reservations, and Homeless Shelters.