America’s Second Harvest today announced that sales of the U.S. Foodservice cookbook Recipes From the Heart™ has thus far raised more than $395,000 to help feed the nation’s hungry.

Recipes from the Heart™ is a 336-page cookbook filled with more than 350 delicious recipes, together with many heartwarming stories from the hearts and kitchens of associates of U.S. Foodservice. Net sales of the cookbook, priced at $24.99, are donated directly to America’s Second Harvest.

The cookbook is one of four components making up the U.S. Foodservice’s “Full Plates, Full Lives” campaign. Other events include the Independence from Hunger giving campaign in July, the inaugrual Drive Away Hunger golf tournament in September, and a Scare Away Hunger food drive in October.

“U.S. Foodservice has made bold, innovative, and extremely generous plans to help end hunger in America,” said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of America’s Second Harvest. “Engaging their employees in the creation of the cookbook and in their other fundraising efforts on our behalf has served an invaluable purpose – raising awareness of the pervasiveness of hunger in our country, and inspiring thousands of people to join the fight against hunger.”

“At U.S. Foodservice we know food, and we understand the bounty food brings. Yet in America, a staggering one out of 10 people live with constant uncertainty about the source of their next meal,” said Bob Aiken, president and Chief Executive Officer of U.S. Foodservice. “That is why we have partnered with America’s Second Harvest, the largest charitable hunger-relief organization in the country, to help bring food to those in need.”

This beautifully illustrated cookbook, with a foreword by celebrity chef Paula Deen, tells the story of how all Americans can help put food on the table of those in need.

Recipes were submitted by U.S. Foodservice employees from across the nation as part of a company-wide campaign to raise $1 million in cash and product donations to help to end hunger in America.

Recipe fare includes everything from Apple Dip to appetizing Crab Fluffs and Tortilla Pinwheels; time-honored biscuits and yeast rolls, plus aromatic Cardamom Orange Braid, with whipped orange butter. Breakfast fare includes not-so-traditional quiches like Hot-Dog-Pie.  Entrée recipes run the gamut from Deb’s Meatloaf and Chuck Wagon Chili to Upper Peninsula Pastries, Spendini and New York Maple Lamb Brochettes, Grandma Striney’s Pierogi, Mom’s Chicken and Dumplings, and Macaroni and Cheese with Bechamel Sauce. To go with your entrée, try Janet’s Spinach Kugel, Carrot Soufflé Supreme or Hoppin’ Juan’s Black Beans and Rice. There is a broccoli salad, a Hawaiian Chicken Salad, a cookie salad and more; chowders and squash soups, a microwave French onion soup and even a Mac-n-Cheese Soup. And then there are the desserts: 116 of them. Bars, puddings, cheesecakes; cookies of all kinds, including Andy’s Suspension Cookies and Date Pinwheel Cookies; Fresh Peach Pie and Concord Grape Pie; Coconut Clouds, apple crisp and strudel, Missma’s Pear Preserves, fudges, To-Die-For Lemon bars, and lots more.

The net proceeds from the cookbook (about two-thirds of the cost of each book) will be donated to America’s Second Harvest.  Every dollar donated helps provide 20 pounds of food and grocery products to people that face hunger in the United States.  Each year, America’s Second Harvest member food banks provide more than 2 billion pounds of food and grocery products to more than 25 million people at risk of hunger– 9 million of whom are children.

To preview or purchase a copy of “Recipes from the Heart” or to learn more about U.S. Foodservice’s “Full Plates, Full Lives” campaign, please visit: www.FullPlatesFullLives.com.

A limited number of review copies are available to credentialed member of the press by contacting Kara Kozimor at U.S. Foodservice at 443-259-2004 or Kara.kozimor@usfood.com
 

About U.S. Foodservice
U.S. Foodservice is one of the country’s premier foodservice distributors, offering a broad range of products and an array of services to its more than 250,000 customers. The company proudly employs more than 26,000 associates in 70 locations nationwide who are poised to service our customers beyond their expectations. As industry leaders, with access to resources beyond the ordinary, U.S. Foodservice provides the finest quality food and related products to neighborhood restaurants, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities, hotels, government entities and other eating establishments. To find out how U.S. Foodservice can be your “partner beyond the plate,” please visit the company’s website at www.usfoodservice.com.

America’s Second Harvest — The Nation’s Food Bank Network is the largest charitable domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through its network of more than 200 member food banks, America’s Second Harvest annually provides assistance to more than 25 million people in need, including more than 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Each year, America’s Second Harvest secures and distributes more than 2 billion pounds of food and grocery products to support feeding programs at approximately 63,000 local charitable agencies, including food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, after-school programs, and Kids Cafes. To learn more, please visit www.secondharvest.org.