Plant a Row for the Hungry this Season
When you plan your garden this year, please join the thousands of gardeners who “Plant a Row for the Hungry.” Plant a Row is a national campaign designed to help gardeners make a difference in their community by donating fresh produce to food banks and shelters. PAR was started by a garden writer in 1995 and in 2005 alone over 1.4 million pounds of home-grown produce was donated to people in need.
“Plant a Row for the Hungry” is a people helping people program. There is no money involved, just you, your garden, and the opportunity to lend a hand to people who are not sure where their next meal is coming from. In our area the Food Shelf feeds over 260 families and we averaged over 100 pounds of fresh produce donations per week last season (2008). Read more on the PAR program at the GWA website or get more information on how you can donate fresh produce to the RW Area Food Shelf in Goodhue County Minnesota at our Master Gardener website. For those of you that live in other parts of Minnesota you can easily find your closest food shelf at HungerSolutions.org.
Your excess fresh fruits and vegetables can make a real difference in people’s lives!
R Johnson said:
You best have everyone check with their local food shelf before rushing down with lots of fresh produce. I’ve worked at two food shelfs and we continuously disposed of fresh produce. People did not want to take the time to prepare fresh food, instead went for the quick box or cans. Some food shelfs do not have the cooler space to keep fresh food, plus their energy bills are more just to keep such items on hand.
Here’s my suggestion, instead of just donating fresh produce have people sign up on a weekly list of what kinds of fresh food they might like. From their those working at the food shelves & those donating will know what to have available for those that like to prepare from fresh instead of cans or boxes.