Sioux Honey Beekeepers Establish Central California’s First Anonymous, All-Hours Food Pantries
Those who struggle to put enough food on the table have a new place to turn thanks to a group of local beekeepers. In October, three Sioux Honey Association Co-op members took time away from their hives to install central California’s first documented Little Free Pantries.
The co-op installed the first Little Free Pantry in Los Banos earlier this month. Beekeepers unveiled additional pantries in Fresno and Modesto today.
Little Free Pantries take a crowdsourced approach to meet immediate local needs by encouraging people to “take what you need and give what you can.” The pantries are meant to be an anonymous, 24/7 option for communities. They are a spin-off of Little Free Libraries and began in 2016 with Jessica McClard, a mother in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Today hundreds exist across the country.
“The Central Valley feeds the world. No one here should go to bed hungry,” said Matt Beekman, the Sioux Honey beekeeper who installed a Little Free Pantry in Modesto.
Installation of the pantries marks the launch of what Beekman’s co-op is calling “Beekstock.” Through December, Sioux Honey is partnering with Little Free Pantry to add the first pantries in central California and keep them stocked with plenty of food.
The beekeepers partnered with local organizations in all three cities for the project. The organizations will house the pantries on their property and be stewards of the small wooden structures going forward. During the first week of October, Bob Brandi of Los Banos installed the first at the local Salvation Army. This week beekeepers added two more pantries to Sierra Vista’s Resource Center in Modesto and a neighborhood in Fresno where Marva Ward of ESA/Love Inc. resides.
The beekeepers stocked each pantry with non-perishable foods and bottles of California Beek’s honey, a new local honey product. The co-op has pledged to give a portion of Beek’s honey proceeds to keep the local pantries stocked. Beek’s can be found at Save Marts in central California or online.
Beekman says Sioux Honey is inviting others to join in on Beekstock by donating nonperishable foods or building their own pantries. He hopes Sioux Honey’s efforts will start a trend in central California and that more will pop up in the region.
