Breadcoin and the Food Insecurity and Hunger in Trinidad

Sadly, many of our neighbors do not have enough to eat. There are government programs, like SNAP, and local institutions like food pantries and mutual aid. But some folks, even before the coronavirus pandemic stalled the economy, make do with much less. According to the Capital Area Food Bank’s Hunger Heat Map, Trinidad’s food insecure population was at least 750 in 2019.

Enter Breadcoin, a local organization fighting hunger with physical tokens called Breadcoins. Co-founder Cary Umhau is a white resident of Friendship Heights. She describes a Breadcoin as “a tool that enables people to work together to make sure that everyone is fed and treated with dignity.” 

Here’s how it works: members donate $25 a month, which puts 10 Breadcoins into the hands of a local captain, who distributes them to neighbors and organizations, churches, and schools. Residents spend the coins at participating local restaurants where each is worth $2.20 (the balance goes towards minting coins and administrating the nonprofit). Then, the member-supported organization reimburses the restaurants at least once each month.

This system, says Umhau, “creates a little ecosystem within a neighborhood.” Since starting four and half years ago, Breadcoin now has over 20 vendors in D.C. and recently expanded into Baltimore. There are about 15,000 Breadcoins in circulation (up from 2,800 in early 2019). The organization serves two different focus areas within ANC 5D’s borders, one is called “Ivy City/Trinidad” and the other is Langston. Local vendors include Texas Chicken & Burgers, Zion Kitchen, Langston Bar & Grille, Royal Rooster and Wings N’ More Wings.

The local captain, William Spence, distributes Breadcoins primarily through the schools at the KIPP DC Webb Campus and two churches, Church Without Walls and Community United Methodist Church on Levis Street. They also work with the Fifth Police District to give out coins.

For Umhau, Breadcoins not only deliver food to those who need it, they are also important for the neighbors who give them out. “People love to be generous,” she says. According to Umhau, Breadcoins are also something that neighbors can give to people experiencing homelessness. However, this runs counter to a dominant trend in food aid, which is direct cash payments. The choice of where to eat provided by Breadcoin is, of course, limited to the relatively short list of businesses that partner with the organization, like a coupon.

Umhau singled out Texas Chicken & Burgers as a “fabulous” partner and one of the most successful vendors. She said that they have had as much as $1,000 of Breadcoin business in a single month. According to Umhau, vendors typically consider Breadcoins to be a separate, extra revenue source because customers using them often lack discretionary income and would not be dining out without Breadcoins. The organization also offers microloans to partners that can be paid back in Breadcoins over years.

Umhau describes the organization’s local strategy as “relational” and based on the interest of vendors and where locals want to eat. “We are not going to be the entire food solution for anybody,” she says. According to Umhau, the priority is getting some extra calories to people who need it, and giving them the dignified experience of choosing where to buy their food. But offering healthy and organic options “would be the absolute ideal,” says Umhau. Breadcoin is currently in the process of signing up vendors with a variety of vegetable-based and healthy foods. Umhau invites neighbors to suggest partners and make introductions to local businesses. In about a month Breadcoin will be seeking to double their membership with a giving-season drive.

Photo by Sharon Gustafson and courtesy of Breadcoin.