food | FFXnow - Part 25

Published March 1, 2022 at 3:00PM | Updated March 1, 2022 at 3:39PM

The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors will allocate $5 million toward the expansion of the Capital Area Food Bank facility in Newington (via Google Maps)

(Updated at 3:40 p.m.) The Fairfax County Board of Supervisors voted last week to allocate $5 million of coronavirus recovery funding to the Capital Area Food Bank to expand its Newington warehouse due to increased need.

The project to build a 45,000-square-foot facility is expected to cost $35 million and take two years to complete. CAFB also sought funding from other private partners and the Northern Virginia local governments and communities they serve. Fairfax County is the first to make a formal announcement of funding, CAFB spokeswoman Hilary Salmon told FFXnow.

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Tysons business leaders donate meals in backpacks for local students

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 25, 2022 at 3:00PM

Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce members organize food donations for their monthly "Third Thursday" backpack drive on Feb. 17 (courtesy Andrew Clark)

The inspiration for the Tysons Regional Chamber of Commerce’s new monthly backpack drive came to Andrew Clark on the Saturday before Christmas.

“I’m at home and realized — really, an epiphany of how good my life is,” the chamber’s board of directors chairman recalled last Friday (Feb. 18).

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Taste of Vienna food festival returns for first time in Covid era

By Angela Woolsey

Published February 25, 2022 at 9:45AM

The Taste of Vienna food festival, pictured from 2018, will return for 2022 (courtesy Vienna Volunteer Fire Department)

Taste of Vienna is back.

After two consecutive cancellations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual festival showcasing the town’s food scene will return for 2022 on April 30, the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department confirmed on Tuesday (Feb. 22).

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Fairfax County delegates propose Kimchi Day to celebrate Korean cuisine

By David Taube

Published January 31, 2022 at 3:30PM | Updated February 1, 2022 at 8:42AM

Kimchi in bowl (via Portugese Gravity/Unsplash)

(Updated on Feb. 1) Irene Shin, the first Korean American woman to serve in Virginia’s House of Delegates, believes it’s time the Commonwealth gave kimchi its due.

Shin, who started representing the 86th District this year, has introduced a bill to celebrate Nov. 22 as Kimchi Day, a tribute to the classic Korean fermented vegetable dish.

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FCPS gives bus drivers a pay bump, reports surge in demand for cafeteria food

By David Taube

Published September 28, 2021 at 2:00PM | Updated May 25, 2022 at 1:57PM

Students with Fairfax County Public Schools get onto a bus (via FCPS)

Over a month into the current school year, Fairfax County Public Schools is grappling with two key issues: how to recruit and retain staff, especially in special education and transportation, and how to feed students.

FCPS officials have said shortages in those areas are affecting the rest of the country, while supply chain issues have resulted in more students getting fewer choices to pick from in school cafeterias, thanks in part to free meals becoming available to all students.