What happens to the leftover food from the State Fair of Texas?
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) – If you've ever wondered what happens to all the leftover food once the State Fair of Texas ends, we're here to tell you it goes to a good cause.
This year, dozens of concessionaires are contributing to the State Fair Cares Food Drive benefiting local food pantries. Cornerstone Food Pantry and Kitchen is one of them.
It serves 13,000 meals a month to those in need. Coming out of the pandemic and now dealing with inflation, they say this donated food from the fair is a blessing.
Pastor Chris Simmons has led Cornerstone Food Pantry and Kitchen for almost 35 years.
"Our mission really in this particular community is to impact the lives of the residents in the South Dallas, Fair Park community," he said.
In part, this involves serving meals five days a week mainly to the homeless.
"Now, because of the pandemic and inflation we've started seeing a lot of community people as well, individuals who would never have come to the kitchen before," he said.
As more people show up, they say donations have slowed and food is costing about 30% more.
The State Fair Cares Food Drive recognizes the need. Since 2015, it's donated leftover food from the state fair to nearby pantries.
"It is thousands of pounds of food that gets donated every year," representative Karissa Condoianis said. "We have pallets being delivered of fresh food and vegetables like potatoes and tomatoes. All of these things that go into your favorite dishes at the fair."
This week, Cornerstone was able to pick up two truckloads.
"The food that was donated through the State Fair of Texas has really helped us to scale up," Simmons said.
Those picking up meals say if it wasn't for the generosity of others, they'd go hungry.
"It's a blessing basically," Michael Walton said. "When you're homeless on the streets it's kind of hard and this food, it helps."
With the holidays fast approaching,
Cornerstone expects to see a record number of people looking for hot meals this year.
To learn more about the work that Cornerstone does, or to donate, you can visit their website here or call them at 214-426-5468.