POUGHKEEPSIE — Dutchess Outreach, a major provider of nutritious food for people in need in Dutchess County, held its annual fundraising gala, “Roots of Resilience,” Thursday night. Proceeds from the event support the nonprofit’s essential programs, including the Lunch Box and food pantry, which deliver meals to those facing food insecurity.
Dutchess Outreach Executive Director Renee Fillette-Miccio said the event was “where we both honored our core values of compassion and dignity for people who have needs for emergency assistance, like food and rental support, and so many other things,” adding, “At the same time, it’s a point of transformation for us where we want to start to build and innovate new opportunities for local markets, support our local farmers because food is not charity.”
About one in five Dutchess County residents, or roughly 60,000 people, do not have reliable access to enough food, according to recent findings presented to the county legislature. Fillette-Miccio, who also chairs the Dutchess County Food Security Council, works to source food from local farmers instead of large-scale providers, which can be more expensive. About 70 percent of pantries report difficulty finding enough food, and the system depends heavily on surplus items from grocery stores, which she said are often poor quality. She also noted that exclusive agreements between the regional food bank and local grocery chains further limit what pantries can offer.
“Food is a human right. And you want to keep it local as opposed to buying it from distributors,” Fillette-Miccio said. “I want to do everything local. I want to hire local people. I want to buy local food. I want to do everything locally. I want to keep as many of our tax dollars and our philanthropy dollars right here in Dutchess County.”
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