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Marquis Heard joined the Table to Table team for a 2023 Summer term as our Produce Stand Coordinator and loved it so much that he chose to stay on for a full 11 month Green Iowa service term, completing a total of 14 months of service with us. He used expertly crafted media relations to significantly raise the profile of T2T’s environmental work and dedicated much of his time to developing and refining our Overages, Shortages, and Damages (OSD) program that focuses on rescuing food from rejected truckloads in the area.

Marquis took the time to reflect on his experiences at Table to Table upon completing his final service term.

I began my first AmeriCorps service term with Table to Table in June 2023. During my three month summer term, I was T2T’s Free Produce Stand Coordinator and was responsible for scheduling and leading over 30 free produce stands hosted in Iowa City, Coralville, and North Liberty. To me, the most memorable aspect of T2T’s free produce stands was the level of community engagement that existed at them. At each stand, it was great to see people connect around produce and share recipes and dishes with each other. It was also nice to see folks stop by the stand and not only take produce for their family, but for neighbors, friends, and others. I feel as if there’s real connection in sharing food with those around you, and that connection goes much deeper than just nutrition. Before I knew it, an entire summer had passed and I had assisted in distributing over 23,000 lbs of produce through the free produce stands. My term was wrapping up around September, and the last thing I wanted to do was move on from Table to Table right as I truly understood a lot of the intricacies that went into T2T and its mission. Fortunately for me, an 11 month Green Iowa AmeriCorps position was available and offered to me which I gladly accepted.

As a Green Iowa AmeriCorps member, my role switched from coordinating free produce stands to wrapping up the gleaning season, and also assisting with developing Table to Table’s OS&D program. Gleaning is the act of harvesting produce that is excess, and may go to waste in the fields otherwise. Table to Table has a strong connection with over 20 local farms and gardens, and these growers contact T2T when there’s produce for the Gleaning Coordinator to arrange to harvest. It was great to see the other side of T2T’s local produce recovery program, to go from distributing the produce at the stands to harvesting and collecting it felt like a well rounded experience for me. I was also able to gain knowledge on how some of the fruits and vegetables I eat everyday are grown, which is something I didn’t take the time to consider prior to my service term. Additionally, I enjoyed forming relationships with all of the local growers, and to see their excitement and passion for growing food, and the amazing volunteers I met on gleans. Table to Table’s local produce recovery is so special because it provides a home for excess produce that growers put so much time and effort into, and that home is directly in the communities it’s grown in. 

As mentioned earlier, I also assisted in developing T2T’s growing OS&D program. Similar to local produce recovery, the Overages, Shortages, and Damages (OS&D) program finds a home for food that gets rejected within the trucking/transportation industry. These rejections can happen for many reasons, the truck brought too much of a product, the wrong product, or a pallet in the shipment was partially damaged so the whole load was rejected. Assisting in developing this program was a really unique experience since I was given the opportunity to start at almost square one, and was able to see the thoughts and considerations that go into creating a new food rescue program. I really appreciated the time and consideration that the OS&D team, and the T2T staff as a whole, put into explaining to me the broader aspects of how decisions within a program are made. Through OS&D initiatives, I assisted T2T in accepting 40,000 lbs of potatoes from a farm in Canada, 30,000 lbs of Rice-A-Roni from a local trucking company, and 16 other rejected loads from semi truck drivers. Overall, the program collected over 82,000 lbs of food that would have ended up in a landfill otherwise. 

I’m now wrapping up my 14th month serving at Table to Table, and would sign up for another term in a heartbeat if I were able to. In my time at Table to Table, I feel as if I’ve gained countless lifelong experiences, both professionally and personally. T2T truly invests in their AmeriCorps members. Food rescue is ever changing, unpredictable, and sometimes hectic, yet staff still take the time to give even the three month members the best experience possible. It was more than a pleasure to be a part of the T2T team.

We are so thankful for the immeasurable impact Marquis had at T2T during his time with us!

Noah Thomas joined the Table to Table team in June of 2024 as a Summer term Green Iowa AmeriCorps service member. He served as a Food Recovery Support and Training Specialist, becoming the point person for assisting with day-to-day tasks and challenges such as last-minute routes, leading weekly partner pickups, and other various projects to help streamline operations. Noah says of his role, “At T2T, you never know what challenges will pop up. This enabled me to become a more flexible and prepared worker so I could fill the needs of the task at hand.” 

Noah is a student at the University of Iowa entering his third year as a triple major in Political Science, Ethics, and International Relations. He came into his service term with a curiosity and passion for the food recovery system and said of his time at Table to Table, “It has been a rewarding and impactful employment experience, more so than any other position I have held.” 

Upon completing his service term, Noah took the time to reflect on some of his specific experiences and how his time at Table to Table impacted him.

  One of the most memorable experiences was our special Chipotle pickups. A new location for the restaurant opened up in Coralville and they contacted T2T to do 8 special pickups for specific times. The training for their new employees entailed simulating a normal workday, during which they produced a large amount of prepared food that would be wasted if not picked up by T2T. One of the two daily pickups was to be done at 8:30 pm. I took part in 3 of the 4 night pickups with other AmeriCorps members. It was a fun experience to rescue that much food, and our partners were very happy to receive it. 

I feel what made serving at T2T so enjoyable was the people. The other AmeriCorps members, T2T staff, our dedicated volunteers, and those from our partner organizations who work so hard to serve the public are all people whom I interacted with daily. All of these people brightened my day in different ways. Knowing that what we were doing was helping the community made it feel like less of a job. It was never something to be dreaded, in fact I consistently looked forward to every day I spent at T2T. I truly think the most challenging aspect of working at T2T will be leaving.

Although his three month term flew by in the blink of an eye, Noah claims his short time at Table to Table sparked a shift in perspective that restored his hope that there are truly good things and good people out there. Because of this he has decided to continue as a volunteer following his service term. Thank you, Noah!

Table to Table welcomed Emma Duncan to the team in June of 2024 as one of our Summer term Green Iowa AmeriCorps service members. During her service here, Emma helped us rescue 340,267 lbs. of produce, much of which was distributed to our neighbors at our weekly Free Produce Stands, a program she devoted much of her time to developing and expanding. Additionally, Emma served as a core support team member, taking on important daily responsibilities like program coverage, fleet & facility, and assisting with the gleaning program. “These experiences were invaluable for understanding how the entire Table to Table organization operates. I also found contributing to these programs extremely fulfilling personally and helped me feel connected to the Iowa City community,” Emma said of the multi-faceted nature of her role.

With a Master’s degree in Sustainable Development from the University of Iowa, and an undergraduate background in business, marketing, and environmental studies, Emma came to us with an existing interest in sustainable practices and lots of valuable experience that made her a great asset to our team. Coming into her service term, Emma’s goals were to learn more about the local food system, as well as improve her communication and planning skills. “My Table to Table experience exceeded these expectations. I gained confidence in my decision-making skills and developed a sense of agency that really took me by surprise,” Emma commented on the ways in which she grew both personally and professionally.

Upon concluding her service term, Emma took some time to reflect on her experience in food rescue and the ways in which Table to Table helped her achieve these goals:

In my last week of service, another AmeriCorps member and I organized a last-minute adjustment to a route so that we could collect over 700 pounds of watermelon. At the beginning of my term, I would not have felt comfortable making the call on whether I had the capacity to make such a large impromptu rescue, however, my improved decision-making skills helped me feel confident in my decision. I also found my interactions with volunteers, staff, and the community extremely rewarding and important to fine-tuning my communication skills. Additionally, I gained insights into community needs, received career and life advice, and laughed countless times all while contributing to a deeply impactful cause.

Despite serving at Table to Table for less than three months, Emma cites her experiences here as immensely impactful, especially from the perspective of transitioning from higher education to the workforce. “Thank you to the Table to Table staff, volunteers, AmeriCorps members, and partners!” No, thank you, Emma!

Adam McFee joined our ranks in January of 2024 as a weekly route volunteer before becoming a Summer term Green Iowa AmeriCorps member in June to serve as our Gleaning Coordinator. What excited him the most about this change was his personal interest in food rescue and sustainable practices, and the chance to have such a direct positive impact on his community. Building off the foundational work for our gleaning network set in place by a previous AmeriCorps member, Marquis Heard, Adam was able to increase the amount of food rescued through gleans by 106% compared to 2023, for a total of 2,046 lbs. of produce. He worked with five new growers in addition to existing partners and completed 27 gleans during the course of his term. 

Adam has plans to graduate from the University of Iowa in the Spring of 2025 with a degree in Environmental Policy and Planning. He came to us with previous experience working with Iowa produce farms and volunteering at the University of Iowa Food Pantry, as well as an existing interest in food systems and security. This made him an enthusiastic, motivated, and insightful addition to our team. 

Upon completing his service term in August, Adam took the time to reflect on his experience and impact at Table to Table. 

From the start of the summer, the training process felt very deliberate. I found that beginning training with the big-picture presentation on the Table to Table mission really got me motivated and I began to understand what my role would be on a day-to-day basis. Marquis was super important at first for getting started and offered lots of insight on glean-specific information. Most of the growers I gleaned with this summer had been found and contacted before I started, which I owe to Marquis, he really had the program on its legs before I started. 

This was my first job where I felt I had real agency over my time and how I would do the job. I was able to really build up the program in the way I felt was most effective and have a real hands-on role in its development. Fitting around program coverage, I thought of Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesday mornings as my slots for gleans, and aimed for two or three gleans a week. I created a thoughtful and deliberate process through which I approached my daily responsibilities for setting up and executing gleans, in addition to serving as a core support team member for regular operations as well. The dynamic nature of my role and the independence it allowed me really helped me grow professionally and personally in ways I will carry with me throughout all my future endeavors. 

Adam took the liberty of compiling and analyzing all the data he collected from his time as Gleaning Coordinator, offering valuable insight and suggestions for the ongoing development of our gleaning program. His dedication and thoughtful, deliberate approach to his work made a huge impact on Table to Table and the growth of our gleaning program. Thank you, Adam!