Lexington’s ‘best kept secret’ provides hot meals and groceries — no questions asked

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A smile lights up Ka’Sondra Brown’s face when she remembers a kindergarten student affected by FoodChain’s efforts to improve food security in and around Lexington.

A critic of vegetables, the little boy regularly gobbled up a favorite macaroni and cheese side dish only to discover weeks later it was, in fact, not topped with cheese, but yellow butternut squash.

“This little boy looked at me like I betrayed him,” Brown, a FoodChain board member, joked.

Brown was able to get the boy to continue showing up for FoodChain’s weekly meal distribution events . The nonprofit gives away hot meals made with fresh and locally grown ingredients every Monday and Wednesday and grocery boxes every Friday, no questions asked. FoodChain is located at 501 West 6th St., and distributes meals between 4 and 6 p.m.

Still, introducing the boy to new vegetables meant overcoming some skepticism and wariness, Brown said. In a lot of ways, that describes FoodChain’s dual-mission: to offer access to nutritious, high-quality food, as well as food literacy education.

FoodChain does this through a host of initiatives, from growing produce and raising fish at its on-site aquaponics farm, to sourcing food from small urban farms, and even food recovery efforts from local caterers.

Since 2020, the nonprofit has provided more than 800,000 meals , including 42,000 pounds of local produce this year alone, according to its latest annual report.

It comes at a time when hunger in Central and Eastern Kentucky is sharply felt.

According to data from Feeding America’s Map the Meal Gap study, some 265,000 people in those parts of Kentucky are experiencing hunger. That includes 1 in 4 children who are not being nourished.

Brown calls FoodChain Lexington’s “best kept secret,” but it doesn’t want to be. All the work it does in the community is made possible by not much more than a dozen people.

“We want Lexington to know that we’re very proud of the work that we do,” Brown said. “Just imagine we had more support, how much more work we could do.”

FoodChain’s story

FoodChain has been around since 2011 when it was founded by Becca Self .

The nonprofit gradually grew over the years, adding fish and later shrimp to its aquaponics farm, along with a kitchen for processing surplus food and education opportunities. In 2019, it launched its summer food service program with the help of a grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

FoodChain really “blew up” the following year, during the earliest months of the COVID-19 pandemic, when it helped food workers find food and meals amid widespread restaurant closures.

Leandra Forman, FoodChain’s co-executive director and operations manager, remembers that time as a do-or-die moment for the nonprofit, one that pushed it to grow and expand its footprint in the community. It’s since managed to sustain that operational scale up, and its summer food service program can provide 2,000 meals a day across 16 sites, Forman said.

At each of those sites, Forman said, “Our education team is going there, doing food literacy, teaching essential culinary skills, teaching kids about (food) seasonality and nutrition and fresh produce.”

“We’re able to provide both that access and the education at those sites,” Forman said.

FoodChain programs include:

• Hydroponics farm, which in 2023 produced 3,200 pounds of produce, 292 pounds of tilapia and 90 pounds of shrimp

• Service kitchen, which last year rescued more than 300,000 pounds of food that would have otherwise gone to the landfill. It served nearly 50,000 meals for children and almost 200,000 meals for adults and seniors

• Bluegrass Urban Farm Friends program, enabling middle and high school students to learn about aquaponics and hydroponic farming

• Farm-to-school program

• Meal distribution and home delivery through its Nourish Lexington program

• Local food purchasing program

How you can help

FoodChain distributes free meals every Monday and Wednesday between 4 to 6 p.m. If you or someone you know needs fresh food, visit FoodChain at 501 West 6th St. The nonprofit also offers grocery boxes every Friday, also between 4 to 6 p.m.

FoodChain hosts a monthly volunteer training session the last Thursday of every month, making its next one July 25. Volunteers can help recover surplus food from Trader Joe’s, take a Saturday meal prep shift, help deliver meals and help out on its aquaponics farm. There are also opportunities for groups.

FoodChain also accepts donations on its website, foodchainlex.org/donate.

Do you have a question about services in Lexington for our service journalism team? Send us an email at ask@herald-leader.com or fill out our Know Your Kentucky form.