Fresh food drive donates 6,000 pounds of produce
With summer steadily passing, one local non-profit’s fresh food donation program is in full swing. This year, the High Desert Food & Farm Alliance’s Grow & Give program has already collected over 6,000 pounds of fresh, local produce for NeighborImpact, the regional food bank.
A program that started in 2015, HDFFA Grow & Give program’s goal is to increase the amount of fresh produce available for clients using area food pantries.
Grow & Give is the only fresh food drive in Central Oregon, and HDFFA is well on their way of reaching their annual goal of collecting 15,000 pounds of produce for food insecure neighbors. By definition, food insecurity means the state of being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food. Over 28,000 individuals in Central Oregon face food insecurity every day.
The program works by collecting produce at regional farmers markets donated from farmers, backyard gardeners and community members.
In addition, they also run on-farm gleaning events. Gleaning is an agrarian word for “going onto farms and collecting excess produce at the end of the harvest.” HDFFA is bringing this concept back to Central Oregon, using volunteers to glean extra produce from farms and delivering to the food bank.
This program makes a big difference! It increases access of fresh produce to neighboring food banks and meal sites. This aligns with HDFFA’s belief that local food should be accessible to everyone and that our food connects us to each other. The fresh produce is distributed by NeighborImpact to their 50+ partner agencies across Central Oregon.
“It’s wonderful people come in and when they get to see the produce they get to choose some people leave crying and I get hugs every day. It’s the produce that makes people smile, of course you need the canned goods but its the fresh food that makes the difference for what people expect to get from the food pantry,” said Gary Hewitt, pantry manager at St. Vincent de Paul in Bend
HDFFA is seeking produce donations from farmers, backyard gardeners and fruit tree owners. If your garden is starting to overflow with those base-ball bat size zucchinis or you have a backyard tree brimming with fruit then contact info@hdffa.org or give them a call at (541) 390-3572.
