Farm Fresh Rhode Island blog

A followup to our earlier report on the Fresh Food Drive. Back in August, Mel at Farm Fresh coordinated a corn-gleaning effort at Cook’s Valley Farm. Enthusiastic Gordon School middle schoolers accompanied by two teachers and a Fox Point Community Garden member spent a Wednesday morning picking 1,100 pounds of corn for the RI Food Bank.

Putting the event together was simple, harvesting was hard work, being on the farm was educational, the day was fun, and the amount of good was enormous. Exactly the kind of event that should happen more often. Hence October’s Fresh Food Drive was hatched!

The availability of veggies at food banks is often directly related to local agriculture. Food banks can often negotiate discounts on canned and non-perishable items from supermarkets. (So while we salute buying and donating cans, your dollars would be better spent going directly to a food bank or pantry.) They also often receive significant donations of aesthetically damaged goods. But it is much harder to obtain fresh foods from these stores. So the options available to those who rely upon food pantries are often only as healthful than the center aisles of the supermarket. That’s why the Fresh Food Drive is so important.

Also of note: A recent Washington Post op-ed about food banks and a NY Times video about a NY farmer’s relationship with a city food bank.

This Saturday, volunteers from Brown’s Sustainable Food Initiative harvested beets and squash at Cook’s Valley Farm in Wrentham, MA, capping off a Thanksgiving-timed delivery to the RI Food Bank. It’s the culmination of a Fresh Food Drive that we ran this October at our farmers’ markets at Brown, Hope High School, Armory Park and Downtown Providence. Thank you to the dozens of market patrons who donated a few bucks toward the gleaning of:

• 1,000 pounds of sweet corn
• 1,100 pounds of beets
• 600 pounds of butternut squash
• 140 pounds of tomatoes
• 60 pounds of peppers
• 30 pounds of eggplant

Between your dollars and many volunteer hours, 2,100 pounds of food from local farms were delivered to the plates of those who wouldn’t necessarily otherwise be able to afford fresh foods.

Thank you also to Farris at the RI Food Bank and to the Hope High School Farmers’ Market farmers that participated:

• Amy at Woodstock Farm
• Al at Bettencourt Farm
• Warren at Cook’s Valley Farm

We’re lucky to live in a community where our harvests are abundant and our farmers generous.