Whole Foods Market recently held a film premiere of the documentary “Forks Over Knives” at the AFI Silver Theatre in Silver Spring, Maryland. Proceeds from the film were donated to the Capital Area Food Bank’s Farm Youth Initiative. 

Forks Over Knives is about how diet can alter the course of common diseases found in America.  The film chronicles patients who have chronic conditions from heart disease to diabetes, and the whole foods plant-based diet approach that doctors use to treat their ailments. 

After the film, there was a panel discussion with Rip Esselstyn, one of the leads in the film; Executive Producer Brian Wendel; Dr. Neal Barnard; and Alana Sugar, a certified nutritionist.

Share the Harvest this holiday season and honor someone special with a gift in their name.

Share the Harvest supports an innovative collaboration between the Capital Area Food Bank and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation.  This partnership enables the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Clagett Farm to distribute between 40 and 50 percent of its annual harvest to low-income families and underserved communities in the metro area.

Your donation enables the CAFB and Clagett Farm to offer reduced-price shares to anyone who qualifies for government assistance and accepts SNAP benefits as payment; provide fresh produce to children that participate in the CAFB’s summer farm and nutrition education classes; and distribute fresh produce through a “food grant” to our nonprofit partners that serve meals or provide groceries to those in need. 

In 2010, Clagett Farm produce was distributed or served by nine CAFB food grant partners.  At the Father McKenna Center, homeless men recovering from addiction were served fresh, local produce during their weekly PeaceMeal – an event “designed to enhance not only the health but also the sense of self worth of [their] guests.”  One pantry client at Western Fairfax Christian Ministries was so excited about making kimchi with Chinese cabbage she had to sit in the lobby to keep from fainting.  

A gentleman at the Allen Chapel AME pantry raved about green tomatoes,“I’m a Georgia boy.  I know how to fry the green tomatoes. Give me the green ones!  Thank you!  I am going to have myself a party with the grandchildren.  Ya’ll have made my day!”

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Through the FYI program, more than 150 children from Kids Cafe sites in D.C., Maryland and Virginia learned about the health benefits of incorporating eight servings of fruits and vegetables into their meals every day.  Each group of kids practiced making “packed snacks” by matching kid-friendly snack foods with fruits and vegetables they’re likely to encounter at school, home or their community center. 

So instead of eating plain salsa and chips, a “packed snack” adds peaches, black beans, corn and cheese to that store bought salsa and it is then served with whole wheat crackers.  Now that’s a snack that is good for you, tastes great (just ask the kids) and is very filling!

During field trips to Clagett Farm, the kids had the chance to harvest and taste-test veggies and herbs from the garden. And they worked together to create healthy snacks that included fruits and vegetables with other familiar ingredients.

All of these activities aim to increase children’s comfort level with eating fruits and vegetables.  By engaging kids with new tastes and textures, FYI hopes to increase the likelihood that they will gobble up at least eight servings of these essential foods on an everyday basis. This summer’s FYI participants had a lot of fun and we think they’ll head back to school ready to include fruits and vegetables with their meals whenever they have the chance.

Donate it to us!

At the Capital Area Food Bank we can take donations of fresh produce anytime between 8:30am-4:30pm Monday through Friday. Drive up, dash in, drop off, fill out a 2 minute donation form and you are off! There is no schedule or advanced notice required. It’s that easy!

Looking for something more sustained? We have a partnership program called Grow A Row that pairs your beautiful garden with a neighborhood non-profit feeding program. You donate directly to them through the end of the growing season.

Visit our Grow A Row webpage or email us for more information about donating fresh produce.

Happy Growing!

This past Friday morning nine grant recipient organizations came to Clagett Farm for their introduction to the Fresh Produce Grant program. We could not have asked for a more beautiful day! Staff learned the specifics of the program including, how to weigh produce at the wash station and new vegetable varieties. They also tasted recipes that highlighted “spicy mix” a zesty mixture of garden greens that are unfamiliar to many people.   Jodi Balis, the Director of Nutrition Education made a delicious spicy mix soup, and my favorite—turkey meatballs with spicy mix and quinoa. So tasty!

Once the specifics of the program were out of the way, the group headed outside to tour the farm with Michael Heller, the Director of Clagett Farm. This gave participants a broader view of the importance of local sustainable agriculture.  Michael explained some of the sustainable growing practices used at Clagett Farm and how this type of agriculture effects the soil and water quality of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed.    Check out the video below to see what Michael says about soil:

The Fresh Produce Grant program is a partnership between the Capital Area Food Bank and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation owns the farm, and runs various programs—including a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture), tree nursery, and educational programs about the Chesapeake Bay and sustainable practices to protect it.

The Capital Area Food Bank distributes food, but it also provides education and skill-building opportunities that build community capacity to address the issues of hunger and poverty.  We just added a new program to our ranks that does just that – the DC Farm to School Network (the Network).  The Network works to connect D.C. schools with healthy, locally-grown foods to serve in their cafeteria meals. It’s a non-traditional program of the Food Bank – not about food distribution directly, but about developing the capacity for the District to nourish and educate vulnerable youth – to the tune of over 100,000 meals each day.

Farm to school programs connect local farmers with local schools so that more healthy, local foods are served in school cafeterias.  They also offer hands-on education about food, health, nutrition and the environment (in the form of school gardens, farm field trips, chef demos, and more).  Farm to school programs get kids excited about eating healthy, local foods because they look and taste better.  And we all know how important it is for kids to eat healthy foods like fruits and vegetables, especially when the District has one of the highest child obesity rates in the nation.

If we look at child poverty rates, Washington, DC has the highest of all the states. Low-income students don’t have to pay, or pay very little, for school meals because they’re subsidized by the federal government. In the District, about three out of every four students qualify for subsidized (free or reduced-price) meals.  As a result, many low-income children get their main meals each day at school.

The food bank sees school meals as an opportunity to nourish youth in the District on a large scale – many of whom are at risk of hunger.  We see school meal reform efforts as a down payment on the future of kids who will grow to inherit this city.  Learn more about what we’re doing to make farm to school programs happen in the District at www.dcfarmtoschool.org.

Do you think school nutrition and farm to school are important?  Testify at the Healthy Schools Act hearing on Friday, March 26th!  More information at www.dcfarmtoschool.org.

Share the Harvest is an innovative collaboration between the Capital Area Food Bank and the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. This collaboration enables the Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Clagett Farm to distribute up to 50% of its annual harvest to low-income families and underserved communities in the Washington metro area.

This past harvest season, Capital Area Food Bank partner, SOME (So Others Might Eat), used Clagett Farm produce in meals served to clients at residential addiction treatment programs. SOME received over 2,400 lbs of produce throughout the 26 week harvest season, but numbers can’t measure the entirety of the program’s impact as expressed by Brian Bilenki of SOME:

“Part of our mission is to serve people with respect and dignity. Serving people fresh, chemical-free produce gives our clients worth. It restores dignity to them. Food is ingrained in people; it’s so much of who they are. There’s nothing more nutritious than the food received from Clagett Farm, and we are showing our clients that they deserve to receive it.” -Brian Bilenki, SOME

Share the meaningful gift of local, sustainably grown produce for our neighbors in need! Help us Share the Harvest in 2010 and donate in honor of a friend or family member this holiday season.  Click here for more information or Donate Now!