Chew On This
About this series
After 15 years of dedicated service—12 of them as CEO—Michael McKee will retire from the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank at the end of June 2025. During Michael’s tenure, the Food Bank has made record-breaking advancements in addressing hunger. In this three-part blog series, we will celebrate Michael’s impact on hunger in the Blue Ridge region, and the legacy he leaves behind.
In this first article, we highlight how Michael transformed the Food Bank’s approach to nutrition, and how thousands of Virginians benefit from his bold vision.
For more than four decades, the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank has been a beacon of hope for individuals and families living with food insecurity. And as long as hunger’s harsh realities confront neighbors, our commitment will never change.
What has changed in the last 12 years is how the Food Bank has transformed its approach to nutrition. Early in his tenure as CEO, Michael McKee understood the relationship between nutrition and health and looked for ways to bridge the gap for our guests.
It’s that vision that has redefined the traditional role of food banks. Gone are the days when we “just” provided calories. Thanks to Michael’s leadership, we are nourishing entire communities by providing the nutritious food our guests need to live healthy, active lives.
A lot more produce
Michael’s vision to provide more healthy and nutritious food for guests started with a push that makes a lot of sense if your goal is to improve the health of the people you are serving: to distribute more fresh produce. A lot more.
“Fifteen years ago, when Michael hired me, we were distributing 500,000 pounds of fresh produce each year,” Tyler Herman, Senior Director of Impact and Innovation at the Food Bank, said.
“Today, that number has grown to more than 9 million pounds of produce distributed annually—a testament to his unwavering commitment to providing more nutritious food to those we serve.”
“He has transformed how we center health in hunger relief across Virginia.”
The push to invest in acquiring and distributing more fresh produce coincided with an ongoing trend; many guests turn to the charitable food assistance network as a primary source of food not just during emergencies, but over extended periods of time.
Michael understood that the commitment to source more healthy food was a necessary one.
From inspecting and packing produce boxes in our warehouses to investing in cold storage and refrigerated vehicles, the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank is committed to distributing more fresh fruits and vegetables to guests.
A problem to solve
The goal to distribute significantly more produce came with a problem to solve–the need for more cold storage. Under Michael’s leadership, the Food Bank added cold storage space during headquarters renovations in 2015 and again in 2023.
He also suggested and supported an investment initiative to help pantries do the same. That donor-funded initiative is now known as the Partner Impact & Innovation Grants. To date, more than $5 million has been invested in growing partner capacity to serve their communities.
Around the same time, Michael’s and the Food Bank’s commitment to nutrition was further demonstrated by the creation of a nutrition policy. This policy, the first of its kind among Virginia food banks, continues to demonstrate a commitment; access to food is not just about quantity but also about quality.
The introduction of Nourish
With a commitment to sourcing nutritious food in place, Michael’s quest to end hunger in the Blue Ridge region and beyond was just getting started. In 2015, he connected with Michelle Hesse, Associate Professor of Dietetics at James Madison University, to ponder this question: How can the Food Bank focus its efforts to reliably source nutrient-dense foods?
The ensuing partnership between the Food Bank and the Harrisonburg-based university resulted in a groundbreaking software tool used by many food banks today, called Nourish. By using evidence-based nutrition guidelines, this cloud-based platform allows food banks to track and improve the nutritional quality of their food inventory, using a color-coded system. Decisions about which food items to procure are now grounded in scientific research, focused on health outcomes. The software is now being used by the majority of Virginia-based food banks.
Last year, 99% of the tracked food inventory at our Food Bank was labeled green (“choose often”) or yellow (“choose sometimes”). This means that the vast majority of the 31 million pounds of food that left our warehouses last year and landed on the shelves of our pantry and program partners supported the health of our guests.
Millions of guests across Virginia are healthier because of the vision Michael and his many collaborators laid out, and that they were able to execute with precision, determination, and care.
“While the system was designed for operational efficiency and reflects the latest nutrition science, what always remained at the heart of Michael’s vision was to develop a system that could be shared and provide impact beyond the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank."
A guest-centric approach
Time to take the foot off the accelerator, perhaps?
Of course not. Hunger doesn’t take a break, and during his time leading the Food Bank, Michael McKee has been relentless in his pursuit of improved food security for our guests.
During his tenure, Michael prioritized a guest-centric approach to strategic planning. He felt it was important to listen to guests to identify critical needs.
That led to at least one more important food-sourcing milestone: the commitment to offer more culturally inclusive foods to better serve the many immigrant communities across our service area.
This approach, where guests are at the center of all the Food Bank undertakes, has become the cornerstone of planning and operations during Michael’s tenure. To underscore that commitment, improving guest health is a strategic goal in the Food Bank’s current 5-year strategic plan.
Food Is Medicine
Michael McKee has been a champion for the Food Is Medicine movement locally and nationally—food is increasingly seen as a medically necessary treatment to address the specific health needs of individuals.
“Michael promoted this concept way before this idea took hold in popular culture,” Director of Health Initiatives at the Food Bank Maria Bowman said. “He helped us see that we have the capacity, capability, and the responsibility to support the nutrition and health of our guests with our Food Bank resources and our pantry partner network.”
“Simply put, Michael sees our guests as worthy of the very best food and service we can offer. He envisioned and contributed to all the major nutrition and health wins at the Food Bank over the past 10 years.”
In that same vein, he has been a driving force behind a state-wide effort, spearheaded by the Federation of Virginia Food Banks, called the Healthy Pantry Initiative. That initiative provides food pantries with the tools to implement health-focused and neighbor-centered practices.
From simply distributing calories to a concerted, well-thought-out, and carefully designed effort to improve the health of the people who turn to the Food Bank for help, Michael McKee’s legacy is one of transformational leadership and profound impact. His unwavering commitment to nourishing communities has changed the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank and set a new standard for food banks across the state.
Or, as Tyler Herman stated: “His legacy will continue to nourish countless lives and our collective mission for years to come.”
