Feeding Food Pantries
The Livingston Food Resource Center (LFRC) is more than a food pantry. It’s an economic development driver, job training ground, and nonprofit aspiring to lift people out of poverty. “Our vision is to fight the root cause of hunger, which is poverty,” according to Executive Director George Peirce.
The LFRC recently expanded its Community Bakery and now employs nine full-time staff, including two bakery apprentices, in creating artisan bread and baked goods. Retail sales support food pantry operations and allow the LFRC to provide fresh, locally sourced, whole-wheat bread to Livingston residents as well as other food pantries in Montana.
The bakery also supports the state’s wheat industry, which supplies the raw materials. “The bread—everything we bake—is made by hand,” Peirce adds. “It’s as nutritious as food can be. And we have the capacity to share it.”
The food pantry serves 400 households each month, and Peirce envisions further expansion. “We’re always prepared to support any food pantry in Montana that needs help,” he says.
Related item: ABC/Fox Montana