Common sources of protein like tuna and peanut butter are simply too expensive for Marion-Polk Food Share to provide over 9,500 families eating emergency food each month. However, we weren’t about to let healthy nutrition slip. When the going got tough, the tough got creative - MPFS Executive Chef Steve Morton created a high-quality vegetarian burger made from delicious quinoa, lentils, and rice. The burger is an excellent source of protein and nutrients. Ultimately, it is a delicious dinner with a motive – to provide necessary food while providing vocational opportunity for incarcerated young adults at MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility. A partnership with Oregon Youth Authority will allow incarcerated young men to help produce the veggie burger as part of their food service curriculum. For more information about this project, please contact Sarah Perryman.