Why a nonprofit built relationships with the media and stoked a local controversy
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Eat Greater Des Moines is best known for its food rescue program, but the nonprofit is working to do far more — such as change the food system to make it better for everyone.
In this interview with Executive Director Aubrey Alvarez, we discuss the importance of nonprofits reaching out and working with the media, regardless of the public relations or marketing budget.
Alvarez has earned a reputation for being bold in sharing (sometimes controversial) stories with newspapers, television stations, business journals, online news outlets, and others. In the podcast, we talk about:
Why she reached out to the media when she co-founded the nonprofit
How she’s cultivated relationships with the press
Why she was brutally honest about challenges — and decided to share her story instead of saying “no comment.”
Why she continues to speak to the media to advance the nonprofit’s mission and effort to change the food system
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Below is an edited and condensed version of the interview.
→ Listen to the entire interview online on the Nonprofit Storytellers Podcast on iTunes, Spotify and Google.
Tell me a little bit about how Eat Greater Des Moines got started.
The position I applied for was a local food coordinator, and it was a position that was brand new to the area. There were some similar roles in other parts of the state, but they were housed within an extension office or with a university.
It was presented as an opportunity to learn more about what's happening within our local food system and who are all the players and then identify where there are opportunities.
We've always been focused on more of that big-picture system-level change.
Our main role was to connect with all the different groups and organizations doing work in the food space and help identify what's going really well, what we would like to see more of, and then where are there gaps, where are things not working as well?
Why did you start reaching out to the media?
It was just two of us, so really the only way any of the work we've done is through partnerships and collaboration. Initially, reaching out to the media was challenging in how we talked about our work. We're still having a hard time talking about our work and our role because we're trying to do system change work.
Part of it initially was trying to build relationships with those in the media to help explain what our role was. Because we were doing a lot of work supporting community gardens, when there were stories about gardens or growing food, the role was to help connect the media with those that were doing the work directly.
That’s how our initial relationship with these different media outlets started. And then over the years, there have been times where we've maybe had an event or had something more specific and tangible we wanted to reach out to.
Otherwise, it's been trying to be seen as a subject matter expert and a connector in this space so that whether it's us we're talking about or helping people connect what's happening at the national level with how's that playing out here locally and who should you talk to.
So you try to provide context to the media?
One hundred percent. I spent the first six months of my job talking to as many people as possible throughout various food systems. And it was confusing, and I was being paid full-time to figure this stuff out.
So it's very simple for me to understand why someone jumping in to do a story or do a highlight, why it's hard to understand all the different players, why food banks and food pantries are different, what food rescue is as opposed to a food pantry.
There are all of these things that need a little more context. So I could lend that expertise to help get to the story they're looking for and or the story we're trying to tell that isn't the usual story that's being told. That's really where our relationships with media have been really, I think, hopefully mutually beneficial.
How did your relationships with the press unfold?
Especially as we were just getting started, we needed people to know what we were doing. I remember one of the first things I did was a Business Record story that introduced community leaders. It was a good chance for me to practice my answers and understand the questions the media might have.
I'm feeling more confident now, but in the beginning was like, "I hope I can answer the questions," or "I hope I can have a clear answer and have some good sound bites," because it has been challenging to talk about the work that Eat Greater Des Moines does.
It’s unique, not only in the area, it's unique in the country, to have an organization that is not only working to grow local producers but also doing food rescue. So it was challenging because there weren't many models.
Can you share an example of sharing your story?
Reaching out to the media — it kind of has depended on what the story is, if we're hosting an event or if we're having a conference, that’s where it’s really helpful. It’s a one-time, short event that we need people to know about and hopefully get there.
So part of it was figuring out who's the right person. I think that has definitely taken some trial and error. We have a few television stations here, so trying to figure out who's the best person to ask or put things in front of them.
I was very nervous initially and felt like I was bugging people. But then they were like, "We're always needing to have stories. There are stories that can be a good fit."
Newspapers and print media look different, and that could be talking more about our food rescue program; the launch of it was one thing, but then continuing to share in different iterations.
It’s not a one-and-done event. We want to bring more folks in to experience it. We had reporters from the Des Moines Register go along with one of our food rescue drivers and take photos during the pandemic.
What I get nervous about is: Am I providing the right information? Should I provide more information? So having them be a part of it was a great way to kind of hone in more for us on like what, what's the information they really want and need and how can we give that to them succinctly while also giving them opportunities to be a part of it if they want.
Listen to the entire interview online on the Nonprofit Storytellers Podcast on iTunes, Spotify and Google.
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