The Mill Valley Pasta Company (MVPCo.), a gourmet retail shop specializing in handmade pastas and sauces, has widely promoted its food insecurity relief program, titled the Uncle Tony Program, over the last few weeks. So far, the program has successfully raised over $18,000 to support those with food insecurity in Marin County.
The Uncle Tony Program is an initiative designed to discreetly assist individuals who may not have the resources to make or buy their own meals. It has been active since the shop’s launch in 2020, although it has gained more attention from the community since the government shutdown.
Tony Adams, owner of MVPCo., conceived the idea for the Uncle Tony Program himself.
“Folks who are food insecure can walk into any of our store locations, Mill Valley, [San Rafael] or any of our farmers market stops and let us know they are there to ‘pick up an order for Uncle Tony,’” Adams said. “That is a code for us that they are food insecure and could use a little help.”
When requesting an “Uncle Tony” order, a person will receive about two meals’ worth of food for each member in their household. The name “Uncle Tony” is used to uphold privacy for the person receiving food.
“Sometimes the hardest part of getting help is asking for it. It can be tough to say, ‘hey, I need help,’” Adams said. “We try to give [our recipients] dignity by still getting them help without having to say it in front of strangers.”
According to Adams, only a few families took advantage of the program before the government shutdown. Now, the Pasta Company has supplied meals to hundreds of families.
“If you’re food insecure, it doesn’t mean you’re a failure. It doesn’t mean that you’re less than in some way. It just means you need a bit of help,” Adams said.
Since the program’s launch, social media has been Adams’ primary approach for informing the community about what is going on at the MVPCo.
“I remember making [social media] posts in our early days, saying, ‘hey, if you’re food insecure and you need some help, come find me. If you’re feeling embarrassed to ask for help, just let me know you’re there to pick up an order for Uncle Tony.’ I will be the only one who knows what that is,” Adams said.
Recently, one of Adams’ posts went viral on TikTok, garnering over 52,000 likes. In the following few days, the program received support from all over the country, further strengthening its cause.
The MVPCo. also collaborates with ExtraFood, a food recovery organization that collects excess food from grocery stores and farmers’ markets and redistributes it to individuals in need, to combat food insecurity.
Director of Marketing at the nonprofit ExtraFood, Mandy Willian, knows many people in the Bay Area struggle with food insecurity.
“We have 1 in 5 people in Marin and 1 in 4 people in San Francisco who are food insecure. So it’s pretty scary [that the] hunger is closer than you think,” Willian said. “Whatever [ExtraFood] can do to help the people that are affected on a normal basis, but now more than ever because of the SNAP crisis, we’re willing to do that.”
The MVPCo. works closely with ExtraFood, and last year, they donated $30,000 worth of pasta products to the nonprofit.
“[Adams] is a great person, and we love picking up [food] from him. Having pasta is super key because it’s shelf-stable, so it can last a long time in people’s pantries,” Willian said.
Community members who are inspired by Adams’s work with the MVPCo. can spread the Uncle Tony program’s message through social media or volunteer at organizations like ExtraFood to join the fight against food insecurity in the Bay Area.
