Mr. George said the African Food Project began in May of 2007 to provide African-specific foods like parboiled rice, plantains, Titus sardines and Fufu flour to West African immigrants. He said these foods help recently immigrated families receive the nutrition and familiarity they are used to.

Mr. George informed that People’s News  that He and the Executive Director of the EFN made a recent visit to Liberian in an effort to begin a project in Liberia. He said the trip to Liberia was very successful and they are working out mentalities for the commencement of the Liberia based project.

For his part, the Executive Director, Mr. Tim Barnes said he was thankful for the ongoing and generous support from donors who give EFN the ability to expend their avenue of service. As a food bank, he said, his program is responsible not only for providing hungry family with enough food, but also for ensuring that the food they receive through the program is nutritious and culturally appropriate.

The African Food Project has been such a success that distribution has been moved to Emergency Foodshelf Network's (EFN) warehouse. The previous location was no longer able to accommodate the amount of people who responded to the program. June 11th, EFN launched its first distribution at the warehouse.  5,379 lbs of food was distributed to families in need of food assistance. Emergency Foodshelf Network (EFN) provides Somali-specific packages to Community Emergency Services with an average of 180 packages per distribution

The African Food Project is also looking for donations to help keep the program running. All foods are purchased through Emergency Foodshelf Network's bulk purchasing program, but the African-specific foods are expensive.

According to the annual report of the Emergency Foodshelf Network, in 1990, fewer than 5,000 Minnesota residents had been born in Africa. A decade later, that figure increased to more than 34,000. By 2002, nearly 9,000 additional immigrants arrived in Minnesota directly from various African nations. Thirteen percent of Minnesota’s foreign-born residents in the 2000 Census were from Africa—a higher percentage than any other state in the country. (*According to Minneapolis Foundation)

 The Report states that most African individuals who have immigrated to the United States come as refugees fleeing civil strife in Liberia, Somalia, and the Sudan. Other relatively large African populations recently arrived in the U.S. include Nigerians, Ethiopians, and Eritreans.

EFN HEAD OFF

Meanwhile, the President of the Liberia Community in Saint Paul-Minnesota (LCM) Mr. Edward Carter, and his relief committee paid a formularization visit to EFN. Mr. Carter said his visit was in line with ongoing discussion with the EFN to begin distribution to immigrants in the Saint Paul. He said modalities are being for the process to be commenced in the soon possible time.