Food Security
“Food security is a basic human right. Every person who calls Fairfax County home deserves access to the food they need.”
-Rodney Lusk
Food insecurity has persisted in our community for far too long. Unfortunately, COVID-19 drastically multiplied the need for food among the vulnerable families in our community.
One of Rodney’s proudest achievements in his first term is the development of the largest and longest running food distribution in Fairfax County history. Rodney is actively working to morph that distribution into a food cooperative program that is designed to begin as a community garden and culminate in the redefinition of how vulnerable members of our community can access fresh produce.
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At the onset of the pandemic Rodney realized quickly that food insecurity was becoming one of the most pressing side effects of COVID-19. In partnership with DeLune Corp. and the USDA, Rodney organized the largest and longest food distribution in the history of Fairfax County. Lasting over two years, Rodney’s team was responsible for overseeing the distribution of over 3 million pounds of food to thousands of families at the height of the pandemic.
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At the conclusion of the food distribution, Rodney launched an effort to establish Lee District’s first public community garden. In partnership with Arcadia Farms, the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors and the Northern Virginia Soil and Water Conservation District Board, Rodney oversaw the installation of the garden at the new Lee District Community Center. Growing various fruits, vegetables and other plantings, the garden provides a place where community members can learn how to establish and maintain a garden. Additionally, they can learn to fabricate all the materials that they need to create their own produce garden at home.
Rodney is actively in the process of leveraging the successes of the community garden to launch a food cooperative designed to address the persistent food insecurity that has plagued our community for far too long.