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Farmers’ Market Participants Would Rather Pitch
In than Pitch Out
By
Terri McLean
ASHLAND, Ky., (Aug. 30, 2006) – By most accounts, farmers in
Boyd County would give the shirt off their backs to help others.
Now, several are giving their freshly picked produce as well.
The farmers, members of the Boyd County Farmers’ Market, are
donating their leftover corn, green beans, watermelons and other
items each week to River Cities Harvest, an organization that
collects and distributes perishable food to agencies that help
feed hungry people in the area.
“The farmers love being able to give the leftover produce to
people who could really use it,” said Lyndall Harned,
agriculture and natural resources Extension agent for the
University of Kentucky College of Agriculture in Boyd County.
“Otherwise, they would have to pitch it over the fence to the
cows or plow it under. Now they know it’s going to a good
cause.”
Harned, who sits on River Cities Harvest’s board of directors,
had a hand in bringing area farmers and the 15-year-old
organization together in the local fight against hunger. But
both he and Amanda Gilmore, operations coordinator for River
Cities Harvest, agree that the farmers are the heart and soul of
the successful first-year effort.
“They’ve been great,” said Gilmore, as she worked at her
organization’s makeshift collection booth – the back of her PT
Cruiser. ”We had a couple of weeks in late July where we were
getting 600 pounds of produce donated (each week).”
To an agency that collects about 250,000 pounds of both
perishable and nonperishable food each year, 600 pounds or less
of fresh produce a week might not sound like it would make much
of an impact. However, it’s not the amount of food that makes
the biggest difference, Gilmore said. It’s the type of food.
“This is the freshest of the fresh,” she said. “The people who
are receiving it are loving it because they usually get canned
instead of fresh.”
Six of the 15 agencies served by River Cities Harvest are
equipped to handle fresh produce. They pick it up at the end of
the Saturday market and prepare and distribute it almost
immediately. Included is Safe Harbor, a domestic violence
shelter in Ashland that serves threemeals a day to as many as 35
women and children.
“We access as much local community support as possible, and this
was just a tremendous opportunity for us to get fresh produce in
for our families,” said Ann Perkins, executive director of Safe
Harbor and another River Cities Harvest board member. “Last
week, we had fresh corn, we had fresh green beans, we had
freshly dug new potatoes, we had watermelon, we had cantaloupe
and we had apples.”
Because of a good growing season this year and an abundance of
donated produce, Safe Harbor’s cooks have also frozen some items
for later use, Perkins said.
“It’s not just here today and dinner tonight, but because we do
get such a large volume of produce we can put it to good use
throughout the year,” she said.
Perhaps the most important benefit of the farmers’ donations,
however, is one that can’t be seen but can be felt, Perkins
said.
“It is heartwarming (for our clients) bringing fresh produce to
the table …knowing that it comes from the farmers and knowing
that people actually care about them. It’s a connection that
they feel,” she said.
One of those farmers is Sara Sexton, who grows a variety of
fruits and vegetables on her family farm in nearby Lawrence
County. So far this summer, the Sextons have donated leftover
corn, green beans, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers and
watermelons.
“We’ve got big hearts,” she said. “We’d rather give it away than
take it home and pitch it over the hill.”
Farmers’ market members from Carter and Greenup counties, as
well as Boyd County, and a few from neighboring West Virginia
and Ohio also participate in the program, said market master Ed
Brown.
“It’s good for all of us,” he said. “The farmers themselves they
don’t like to waste stuff they grow. What they don’t sell they
like it to be used one way or another.”
In fact, Brown said with a laugh, “they get kind of hostile if
the ‘buggy’ ain’t here when they leave because they don’t want
to throw it away.”
Customers who shop the farmers’ market, located in the parking
lot of Fannin Motors in Ashland, also have a chance to get it on
the action. They can buy extra produce to donate or make a
monetary contribution.
“An unexpected benefit is the cash donations,” said Extension’s
Harned. “There have been some days when they’ve gotten $100 in
cash and River Cities goes right back to the vendors and buys
their produce to distribute.”
Because of the success of the produce donation project, River
Cities Harvest, at Harned’s suggestion, this year initiated an
effort to provide fresh meat products to the organization.
Supporters bought animals at the Boyd County Fair Youth
Livestock Auction, which was held in August, and then donated
the animals back to River Cities Harvest. Three lambs and one
goat were initially donated and, after a trade, four lambs ended
up going to the processing house to provide meat to three
agencies that prepare meals for the needy.
“With the prices that the animals brought at the auction, this
was about $1,700 of ‘fair’ value,” Harned said. “I think
everyone was pleased.” |
Contact: Lyndall Harned, 606-739-5184
Amanda Gilmore, 606-329-3045 |
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