Birchwood Cafe: Serving up social justice alongside Good Real Food

The Birchwood Café has a solid reputation for theirncommitment to equity, food justice and inspiring gratitude, a reputation based on 25 years of serving Good Real Foodnsourced from local farmers using organic and sustainable practices to thenSeward community and beyond. Their values are harmonious withnthose of The Food Group so it’s no surprise that our partnership is goingnstrong after eight years.

Birchwood fosters community. They host screenings of filmsnabout food issues, are a CSA drop site for eight farms, sponsor a bike team, host “know your farmer” events, andnwork with the Minneapolis Public Schools’ True Food Chef Council to providenfresh, healthy, local food in our public school cafeterias. They work to make theirnoperation environmentally sustainable by composting and recycling more than 90%nof the cafe’s waste. They also raise funds for organizations that addressnHIV/AIDS, food justice, and climate change.

Most recently, Birchwood owner, Tracy Singleton, coordinatedna Virtual Food Drive event in response to the sharp increase in food shelfnvisits due to the COVID-19 crisis. Our food shelf partners, already stretchednthin, needed help to feed their communities. Some food shelves reported triplenand quadruple the number of visitors they were serving once the economic rippleneffects of COVID-19 hit.

Birchwood’s drive accumulated nearly $40,000 inndonations, providing over 79,000 meals for local families experiencing foodninsecurity due to the virus. Tracy also teamed up with local artist, Joynoelle, who sewed beautiful homemade masksnand donated all proceeds to the drive.

The generous community members and café supporters made thensuccess of the drive possible.

In addition to quickly coordinating the virtual food drivenin response to COVID-19, Birchwood also hosts an annual Martin Luther King Jr.nDay food drive. They match each individual donation with an organic item fromnthe café, doubling their impact on local hunger-relief.

Collectively through monetary and food donations over the years, Birchwood has provided 128,500 meals to individuals, families, and seniors experiencing hunger in our communities.

When asked about our partnership, Tracy explained, “What Inappreciate most about the Food Group is their focus on equity and healthynnutrition in the broadest sense. Not only do they take care to know that thenpeople they serve have access to fresh food grown in a way that supportsncommunity health for all, they operate Big River Farms to offer organic andnsustainable agriculture education for farmers who have historically beennunderrepresented in farm ownership, including immigrants, people of color, andnrefugees. The Food Group strengthens community by building a morensustainable and just food system, a vision we share wholeheartedly here at thencafe.”

Birchwood is currently distributing Black Lives Mattersnsigns with all proceeds going to BlacknVisions Collective, a local nonprofit that believes in a future where all Blacknpeople have autonomy, safety is community-led, and we are in right relationshipnwithin our ecosystems.

They are in continued partnership with Joynoelle sellingnmasks. For every mask sold, one is donated to the RacialnJustice Network, a multi-racial, grassroots organization committed tonfighting for racial justice and building bridges across racial, social, andneconomic lines.

Due to COVID19 concerns fornstaff and community well being, the Birchwood is offering their Good Real Foodnthrough curbside pick up only. You can place your order for food, masks andnBlack Lives Matter signs online at www.birchwoodcafe.com.

Thank you to Tracy, the Birchwood team, and their supporters for nourishing our community with food, justice, and gratitude.