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\\u201cWe went from working with one band to working with hundreds of musicians and artists like Dave Matthews, Jack Johnson, Michael Franti, The Dead and so many others!\\u201d

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Justin Levy (5:11-5:23)

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It all started when Justin Levy had an idea 20 years ago to teach young people how to fight against hunger by hosting a food drive at a concert. He was attending University of Colorado at the time and as a part of his senior thesis he held a food drive at Fillmore Auditorium in March 2002 at a String Cheese Incident concert. In exchange for donating, concert goers received a limited edition poster to commemorate the experience and they ended up bringing in over 4,000 pounds of donations. Now, Conscious Alliance is a movement of artists, musicians, food makers and music lovers on a mission to end hunger in underserved communities nationwide with over 119 festivals and concerts under their belt.

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The first drive benefited the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota where 40,000 Oglala Lakota Native Americans live. Pine Ridge Reservation is one of the most economically isolated communities in the country and is about the same size as the state of Connecticut. For 40,000 people it only has one grocery store! Conscious Alliance has since opened a food pantry and started working with all 15 schools on the reservation to make sure kids going to school have plenty of healthy food to eat.

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\\u201cWe started developing relationships with schools knowing that where the kids go every day we can reach a lot of families with the backpack program approach.\\u201d Justin Levy (14:16-14:39)

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Along the way, Conscious Alliance has met plenty of \\u201chungry heroes\\u201d, many of whom are in the natural food community, like Justin Gould from Justin\\u2019s Peanut Butter. These brands helped shine a light on the huge amount of food waste going on in the United States, which triggered Conscious Alliance to work out logistically how they can go to different brand\\u2019s warehouses as they tour with musicians throughout the country and pick up food before it hits the landfill\\u2026 food that grocery stores won\\u2019t buy or will throw out because it\\u2019s, for example, within 90 days of hits shelf life, the brand is getting crowded out or is going through a reprint. Great brands like Applegate, Conagra, Hormel, and many more you know have all partnered with Conscious Alliance.

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Think your kids are obsessed about trading cards? Try concert goers and their posters! At every event, an attendee can make a food or monetary donation and receive a limited edition screen printed poster with the band, venue and date on it. It\\u2019s a special reminder of the opportunity the concert goer had to give back, make a difference, and of course a memory of the amazing time they had.

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Conscious Alliance was still able to make an impact during the pandemic when, of course, live music events were on pause. At the beginning of lockdown, one of CA\\u2019s board members (who happens to own a restaurant) asked Justin if he had a way to distribute meals if the restaurant made them. Justin connected with a kindergarten teacher on the Advisory Board and ended up working with three teachers who were going to their kids\\u2019 doorsteps and dropping off dinners made from various restaurants in Boulder, Colorado. This way, the teachers could check in on their students and make sure their family\\u2019s were okay, and everyone was receiving quality nutrition during this scary time.

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\\u201cOne of the first days of the lockdown in March 2020 we had a board member who owns a restaurant and say, \\u2018If we prepare meals, do you have an outlet to give them away?\\u2019\\u201d Justin Levy (16:01-16:20)

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This caught the attention of the World Central Kitchen, a non-profit that sets up mobile kitchens in areas that need them most, like war zones for example. When partnering with WCK, Conscious Alliance went from serving around 160 restaurant meals a week to almost 2000, making for about 2.6 million meals total in 2020.\\xa0

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Now that restrictions are removed and we\\u2019re \\u201ccoming back to life\\u201d, Conscious Alliance is back at it again with concerts, festivals and music events. How can you get involved or find out where they\\u2019ll be next? Simply visit their website and find a listing of upcoming events or a way to donate virtually. You might see a band or event you\\u2019ve been dying to go to, or some of your favorites like Jack Johnson, The Dead, Umphrey\\u2019s McGee and many more that you can now see live again!

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How to get involved

• Join The Produce Moms Group on Facebook and continue the discussion every week!\\xa0
• Reach out to us - we\\u2019d love to hear more about where you are in life and business! Find out more here.\\xa0

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