Fo(u)r women on a mission
From left: Brittany Tyler and Brianna Scott, two of the four founders of Fo(u)r Roots Farm handle food boxes at the Wednesday give-away outside of Silverlake Mall. Acting on their mission to fight food insecurity in the Pacific Northwest, 200 healthy food boxes filled with regionally sourced produce, protein and dairy products were distributed to Coeur d'Alene residents in need.
ELLI GOLDMAN HILBERT/Press
The founders of Fo(u)r Roots Farm greeted a steady stream of cars at their food box give-away Wednesday in the parking lot of the Silverlake Mall. From left: Brittany Tyler, Brianna Scott, Lisette Alent and Rachel Gewock, founders of the business, say they are on a mission to fight food insecurity across the Inland Northwest.
ELLI GOLDMAN HILBERT/Press
COEUR d’ALENE — The four women of Fo(u)r Roots Farm are on a mission to fight food insecurity in the Pacific Northwest. The woman and veteran owned business was founded in June of 2021 by Rachael Gewock, president; Brittany Tyler, managing director; Brianna Scott, farm manager; and Lisette Alent, administrative director. Fo(u)r Roots is based in Spokane, Washington.
They’ve recently partnered with the city of Coeur d’Alene through a grant provided by the U.S. Department of Housing and Development to give away 580 healthy food boxes during three monthly giveaway events. The first event was held in December and 180 boxes were distributed.
“All 200 of our boxes today are accounted for through pre-registration,” said Brittany Tyler, a Navy veteran. “And we’ve had upwards of 40 walk-ups from people who were not registered, didn’t know to register or didn’t have access to the internet to register. We’re hoping that if we do have any leftover boxes at the end of the day we’ll be able to have them come back and finish out that service.”
Wednesday morning, Fo(u)r Roots set up a yellow tent in the parking lot of the Silver Lake Mall. Less than one hour into the event, a steady stream of cars came through. Each box contains regionally sourced produce, protein and dairy items as well as an ice pack.
The public response shows a far greater need than what is apparent, Tyler said Wednesday.
“It’s great that it will happen, but not great that there’s that much need,” Tyler said. “200 is a drop in the bucket for sure.”
Many of those responding to the offer are low-income, veterans and large families, Tyler said.
Tauna Law, 38, wore a grateful smile as she came through the drive-thru Wednesday. A disabled veteran, Law lives on a very low income and has difficulty making ends meet, she said.
“Food is hard to get a lot of times,” Law said. “Right now I have zero dollars so this is amazing.”
Law found out about the Fo(u)r Roots giveaway through the Kootenai County Spectator Facebook page but wasn’t able to attend the first event in January, she said.
This time however, she registered for one. Some community members didn’t know about pre-registration, but it is an important part of the process, Tyler said. The data gathered helps Fo(u)r Roots to better understand food insecurity in the Inland Northwest.
Two-hundred more boxes will be given away during the last week of February and those interested may pre-register at fourrootsfarm.org, though registration for February’s event hasn't opened as of print date.
