Greetings fellow gardeners!
Last week on CNN, there was a story and accompanying video on "Using nature's bounty to feed the hungry." Gary Oppenheimer of NJ has built an amazing website and network at ampleharvest.org for the purpose of matching up home and small-time vegetable gardeners with local food pantries that distribute food to families in need.
Most of the time, food pantries carry food that stores well - processed, canned etc. It's sad to me that the best food for our bodies; fresh, locally-grown vegetables and fruits, are not available to everyone.
If you're like me, and you have the opportunity to share some of what you grow, please check out ampleharvest.org and click on the link for finding a local food pantry near you. If you can't find one, maybe google for a local food pantry, contact them to see if they're willing to accept fresh produce, ask them to register on ampleharvest.org and get started with sharing your bountiful harvests.
If you have other ideas on how to share your garden with others, please leave a note in the comments.
One such example would be my blog-friend Kim over at Inadvertent Farmer who has started a KinderGardens blog experience where she urges people to help children get involved in gardening and teach them the importance of learning how to grow your own food. How neat is that?
Have a wonderful day!
6 comments:
what a great idea...thanks for the post!
It's a great idea!
I've often thought about this: if someone is on a budget and is trying buy cheaper food, that person has no choice but to buy all canned and boxed processed food. Fresh fruits and vegetables are just a little expensive sometimes.
That is a good idea. What we do is take ours to church. We have an older congregation and they don't put out gardens anymore, so those of us that do bring what we have and they can take what they need. It's really a neat thing and just makes you feel so good because you know how fresh produce tastes so much better than canned and they appreciate it so much.
Is that picture from your garden this year??? Oh my.
You can help the AmpleHarvest.org Campaign by urging the food pantry/pantries in your community to register (many are in houses of worship and community centers). Remind them that it’s free and that it requires no Internet or refrigeration. See http://www.ampleharvest.org/help-register.php for more information.
You can also help more gardeners learn about it by distributing the flier available at http://www.ampleharvest.org/InformingTheGardener.php throughout your community.
Sounds really like a good idea. There is so much that can be done... I often wonder why we can't do similar things to ensure the children getting healthier food at the schools...
That is such an amazing idea! Someday when my plants are no longer in massive pots and when I have a yard, I would love to be part of this effort :) Thank you for sharing!
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