Local business owner turns philanthropist

With a fourth season of operation underway, a major goal of the Streatery food truck is to give back to the community by providing free meals to people struggling with food insecurity during COVID-19.

Streatery owner Sarah Manuel said she always has been concerned about the amount of food wasted in the country, and when COVID-19 set in, she saw people slipping into food insecurity and she decided to take action on both.

"I started this a year ago, when COVID set it, that was when we launched our line of freezer meals, which we now sell at Bear Paw Meats. ... Some of that (food waste) is through the distributors, some of it's at grocery stores, a lot of restaurants and in the home. ... So I was trying to find a solution," Manuel said.

She said, on average, 40 percent of food is wasted in America.

But, on top of addressing food waste, food insecurity as a result of COVID-19 created another problem entirely, So, Streatery launched a line of frozen meals in spring 2020.

"The way that we distribute is pretty low key at this point. People just reach out to me, whether it's an organization that has families, especially around the holidays, that was something we were doing to provide free meals for those families. I've also reached out to churches in the area and things of that nature to try to spread the word more recently," Manuel said.

Manuel said it just was the next logical step to create a system where people who were not struggling financially could chip in. 

"I did everything on the GoFundMe platform. Individuals who had a little extra money could donate to the GoFundMe. Then those funds were used to provide frozen meals for families who were maybe going through a tougher time financially," Manuel said.

The frozen meals allow Streatery to not only help struggling individuals but also help the businesses that have been a part of its success, as Streatery is in the process of expanding. Manuel said her business is supporting more than 30 Montana food producers, and whatever can't be gotten locally is still organic.

"All of a sudden I had a bunch of free time, because all of our events were canceled for a while. But I still had access to plenty of great ingredients. And I wanted to continue supporting our local food suppliers," Manuel said.

Manuel went on to explain her process for producing the frozen meals, which are homemade and, of course, organic, as with her food truck.

"We have a food truck, but we also have a commercial prep kitchen separate from the food truck, and so we do all of our prep there. I have a lot of freezer space. So we make everything homemade and package it ourselves, freeze it, store it. Right now we're just doing local delivery. So, we deliver to Bear Paw Meats in Havre and sell there. We also take orders on our website," Manuel said.

Streatery will also be combating food insecurity by putting on a fundraiser to help pay for the free meal program. The event will be at The Atrium Shopping Mall April 30 from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

"In the past year, it has been hard for the community to have events or gather together for something fun, although our community's resilient and found new creative ways to stay together. But now, with cases going down and restrictions lifting, we at The Atrium want to have something the community can come out for and enjoy," fundraiser organizer Derek Hann of The Book Exchange in The Atrium said in an email today.

"We have a number of the area's wonderful performers lined up to perform as well as food and beverages for people at the event. The Atrium is proud to be able to put on an event like this and we are excited to support Sarah Manuel and Streatery in its mission," Hann said.

As far as expansion of her business goes, Manuel said the main focus right now is on catering. This is an area of the business which has seen growth statewide.

"Specifically lots of weddings, but other smaller events, too. We do quite a bit of catering here in this local community. But this year, we're actually booked for events all around the state. So, we'll be traveling to Glacier and Bozeman, potentially places even like Livingston, and little tiny towns in the middle of nowhere," Manuel said. 

"We're doing mostly destination weddings and things of that nature. So I am looking for not only staff to help me run the food truck, Monday through Saturday, but then also looking for part-time people to travel around the state and do those events with me," she added.

People wishing to support Streatery, in addition to the fundraiser, can find the food truck parked in the parking lot of Triple Dog Brewing every Monday through Friday 4-8 p.m. and Saturdays 2-8 p.m.

The Streatery food truck has been operating since 2018 and stems from Manuel's time growing up on her parents' organic Prairie Grass Ranch. The ranch went fully organic in 2007 after Manuel's mother was diagnosed with the autoimmune disorder known as Grave's disease. Her mother no longer has the disease as a result of an organic diet, Sarah Manuel said in an interview in 2019.

"It's something that the doctors told us was not possible. It just says a lot for what you put in your body matters and food can heal you," she said.