Tag archives: Erik Talkin

Food on the Table
By Richard Mineards   |   October 18, 2022

The Food Bank of Santa Barbara County hosted its annual Table of Life gala at the picturesque Montecito estate of Steve and Cindy Leonard, a short distance from Westmont College. More than 130 guests helped raise around $500,000 towards the $16.5 million cost of a new 57,000-square-foot warehouse and offices, or Sharehouse, near Deckers in […]

Feeding Our Community: The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County Adjusts to Meet Our COVID Needs
By Steven Libowitz   |   March 25, 2021

To say that the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County has been busy is an understatement – the nonprofit distributed 9,708,944 pounds of food over the course of a year, including some four million-plus pounds of fresh vegetables and fruits. Sounds like a lot, right?  Sure, but that’s the year preceding the COVID crisis in California. […]

Foodbank Launches Chef’s Kitchen
By Richard Mineards   |   April 30, 2020

The coronavirus pandemic has stretched many local charitable organizations to the limit, particularly the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County. “The need we are seeing now is unlike anything we’ve witnessed before,” says CEO Erik Talkin.”This disaster affecting everyone in the county, and the world, at exactly the same time is unprecedented. And the precipitous job […]

Fresh Look for Foodbank
By Richard Mineards   |   June 6, 2019

The Foodbank of Santa Barbara County has launched a new logo to reflect its focus on community and education in addition to its mission of providing healthy food for all who need it. As part of a three-year strategic planning process that has been underway with full-staff and board of trustees’ participation since last summer, […]

Talkin about Food
By Richard Mineards   |   February 7, 2019

Foodbank of Santa Barbara County head honcho Erik Talkin has begun his fourth Food Security Challenge. For one month in alternate years, the executive spends on food only what he can afford using the maximum CalFresh – food stamps – benefit for a household of one: $194 a month. This year for the first three […]

On the Table
By Richard Mineards   |   September 20, 2018

Foodies were out in force at the Lark in the Funk Zone when the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County hosted a reception to commemorate its 7th annual Table of Life fundraiser October 6 at the beautiful Montecito estate of Jim and Stephanie Sokolove, who are leaving our rarefied enclave for the balmier attractions of Boca […]

Talkin Business
By Richard Mineards   |   May 3, 2018

Foodbank of Santa Barbara County chief executive Erik Talkin has published his first book, Hunger into Health, with a foreword by Oscar-winning actor Jeff Bridges. The former London filmmaker, who made movies in the 1990s starring Helena Bonham-Carter and Parker Posey, worked in in a community soup kitchen for six years before heading the food bank […]

Thanksgiving Turkey Drive
By Kelly Mahan Herrick   |   November 16, 2017

On October 28, nearly 100 teenagers from the Santa Barbara Chapter of the National Charity League (NCL), partnered up with the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County to kick off the Foodbank’s annual Thanksgiving Turkey Drive. The teens, also known as “Ticktockers,” helped organize a donation to the Foodbank of 750 pounds of food for the […]