When life hands you the perfect metaphor, you have to take it and run.
People who work in food security know exactly what I’m talking about. We are always setting a place at the table, making sure everybody gets a piece of the pie, and hungering for change. And oh boy, do we love apples. We can’t get enough! Please raise your hand if your organization’s logo involves an apple. I’ve got my hand up. I see there are a lot of us; don’t worry, you’re among friends here.
The ironic thing is, apples are difficult to share. If you want to share an apple, you’ll need a knife, a cutting board, and a grasp of geometric principles. Other fruits are easier – bananas will break in half if you look at them wrong and oranges will segment themselves – but sharing an apple requires intention, effort, and a bit of boldness.
And for exactly that reason, it’s the perfect symbol for the Food Club Network.
The Food Clubs in the Network make a simple promise: to enable dignified access to a wide range of fresh and shelf-stable foods, allow members to choose, and treat every person who walks through the door with the respect and care they deserve. It’s a simple promise. And a meaningful one.
Since stepping into the role of founding Executive Director of the Food Club Network about six weeks ago, I’ve seen that fulfilling that promise, however, is far from simple. Food Clubs, like other charitable food organizations, are operating in a historically challenging environment. Grocery prices have risen nearly 30% since early 2020, while the pause in SNAP last year made it even more difficult for families to access sufficient, healthy food and led to a spike in demand at each Food Club.
Yet despite these challenges, Food Clubs fulfilled their promise to 11,200 households in West Michigan in 2025 alone. They did it with small, dedicated teams, hundreds of volunteers and donors, and an extraordinary web of partners. More than 4 million pounds of food rescued from local retailers and restaurants. New Food Is Medicine pathways connecting nutrition to health outcomes. Expanded services for older adults through the senior millage. The list goes on.
The end result is a member experience that is warm, dignified, and rooted in community. Members eat more fresh produce, are more food secure, and report feeling seen and respected. That matters. It matters as much as the pounds of food on the shelves.
With the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last July, the federal government made the largest cuts to SNAP in the program’s history – an estimated $187 billion over ten years, affecting 22.3 million families nationwide. In Michigan, as in most states, those cuts will be felt acutely. More families in the coming year will find themselves with a smaller and smaller slice of the apple. They will turn to Food Clubs, and to other charitable food organizations, to fill that gap.
Food Clubs will keep putting more on the shelves. The Food Club Network exists to grow that work – bringing the model, the infrastructure, and the support to communities that are ready to build something. Is yours one of them? If you’re a funder, a partner, or a community leader who sees a gap that a Food Club could fill, let’s talk.
Lura Barber, Food Club Network Executive Director
