How SunTerra Plans To Continue Its Work With Food Banks
June 23, 2021 
With the Farmers to Families program now over, SunTerra Produce’s Steve Brazeel sees an opportunity to continue its work with food banks. Photo courtesy of SunTerra Produce
When the relief program, Farmers to Families (FTF), launched during the pandemic, it helped direct fresh produce suddenly without markets to the hungry. Many growers and food pantries worked together for the first time.
“It forced us into the same room, if you will, with our nonprofit partners that are in our communities,” says Steve Brazeel, Founder and CEO of SunTerra Produce. “So often we live in our communities, and we don’t realize the people that are doing all this special work.”
Now that FTF has ended, growers like Brazeel are finding ways to continue the relationship.
Building Relationships
Earlier this year, we profiled how Sunterra’s FTF program worked. We reached out to Brazeel recently to find out how his plans changed.
SunTerra didn’t just work with its local food banks but also with many others, including the Navajo Nation.
“[FTF] just kind of created this collaboration that would not have happened, otherwise,” Brazeel says. “That was awesome. It forced this relationship where we had to work together to come up with a plan that works for both sides.”
Now What?
Brazeel’s next big goal is to keep up his newly formed relationships.
“Whether or not the government will participate, I really have no idea. Just because we’ve been living 30 days at a time for a year in terms of these contracts,” says Brazeel. “I would love for there to be some sort of permanent long-term program to really develop these things.”
Brazeel is not going to wait for the government to reinstate a similar program, however, just to continue working with these food banks.
“People are hungry today. People need food today,” he says.
This passion has pushed Brazeel to find his own way to make these collaborations still possible.
“We’re actively working with food banks every single day throughout the U.S. trying to figure out how to get them fresh fruits and vegetables,” Brazeel says.
Brazeel’s Tips for Working With Food Banks
Looking back on the first months of this collaboration, the big lesson learned at SunTerra Produce was to keep an open mind when working with food banks. A lot of confusion and frustration can be avoided by hearing them out.
“We assume what other people need. [Then we] try to come up with a solution to provide the food banks with something that we think meets their needs, instead of listening,” Brazeel says. “I would just encourage you to listen. I don’t know that they’ve been treated like a customer before.”
The biggest lesson of all, he says, is to treat food banks with the dignity you would give to any major collaborator.
Food banks have needs, and you can always find common ground when you take the time to hear them out.
“Whether it’s the time of delivery or helping with the final mile distribution costs,” Brazeel says, “the largest part was just trying to understand what’s important to them and what their needs are. [After that], we can go back to the drawing board and develop a program that fits those needs.”
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