By: Vegetable Basket 'produces' for food pantry recipients - Vegetable Gardening Made Easy - Back Yard Vegetable Gardening

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 12:47:18 +0000

[...] With the local growing season beginning to hit its stride, drop-offs for this year’s Vegetable Basket Program start Monday, July 11.The program, which a flier describes as “Communities Harvesting Hope,” takes excess produce donated by home gardeners and distributes it through seven area food pantries.“Most of the vegetables that we give out at the pantry are canned, so it’s wonderful to give out fresh produce,” said Cindy Dembrosky, food pantry coordinator at Keystone Opportunity Center’s food pantry in Souderton.The program provides about 5,000 to 6,000 pounds of fresh produce each year to local families in need, Moriah Hall, Food Trust project manager, said.“It’s probably fresher and nicer produce than they could pick up in a grocery store, even if they could afford it,” said Ruth Swartley, who is beginning her third year of helping transport produce dropped off at Deep Run East Mennonite Church and Blooming Glen Creamery Apartments.The fresh produce is also healthier, Hall said, and, along with providing it, the program gives nutritional and food preparation tips.“Sometimes we have recipes available, or we might have a sample day,” Dembrosky said. “That way, they know what to do with it.”People particularly like to get the chance to taste the produce, especially if it’s new to them, Hall said.“Then they’re more comfortable with taking it home and making it,” she said.“We try to use recipes that incorporate the fresh produce and some of the pantry staples, like beans and pasta,” Hall said. “We also give tips on how to store it or how to prepare it.”The present Vegetable Basket Program, which is part of the Nutrition Coalition, a network of local food pantries, has operated for about five years. It is an outgrowth of a similar program at Deep Run East Mennonite Church that began more than 20 years ago in what remains an area with many farms and home gardens.Swartley said she encourages the home gardeners to plant a little extra for the Vegetable Basket.“I think people must do that because we really do get a lot of produce,” she said.“Community gardening and growing your own food has become popular, which is great,” Hall said.The Vegetable Basket is “a great way to get produce into the pantries,” she said, but that’s only part of what it accomplishes.“It’s just a great way to tie the community together in a different way,” Hall said.Over the course of the growing season, the produce items received range from tomatoes and corn through apples and pumpkins, Swartley said.“It’s really a little bit of everything and a lot of some things,” she said.The initial drop-offs may not include a lot because it’s still early in the season, she said, but that changes.“It really takes off in the summer months when I wonder if I’ll get it all in my car,” Swartley said.Drop-offs can be made 9 a.m. each Monday at Deep Run East Mennonite Church, 350 Keller’s Church Road in Bedminster; Blooming Glen Creamery Apartments on Route 113 in Blooming Glen; Care Share Shoppes, 783 Route 113 in Hilltown (leave donations in the glass porch at the furniture shoppe); Indian Valley Mennonite Church, 190 Maple Avenue, Harleysville; Plains Mennonite Church, 50 W. Orvilla Road, Hatfield; or the Lamb Foundation, 114 N. Main Street, North Wales.The fresh produce is distributed to the Nutrition Coalition food pantries at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Spring House; Emmanuel Evangelical Congregational Church, Hatfield; Hatfield Church of the Brethren; Keystone Opportunity Center in Souderton; Lamb Foundation, Cornucopia Cupboard in North Wales; Manna on Main Street, Lansdale; and the Shepherd’s Shelf in Kulpsville. The Keystone Opportunity Center and Shepherd’s Shelf pantries provide food to families living in the Souderton Area School District.The Nutrition Coalition project is funded by North Penn Community Health Foundation. Information is available at http://www.nutritioncoalition.org.Fresh produce or other donations can also be dropped off at any of the pantries at other times if that is more convenient than the Monday morning drop-offs, Hall said.On a recent day, for instance, Dembrosky said, someone had brought in yellow squash and zucchini that morning, which was soon after taken home by someone using the food pantry.The drop-offs of locally grown produce generally continue into October, Hall said, although that can vary.“It just really comes down to how the season shapes up,” she said. Return to Paging Mode By Bob KeelerStaff Writer [...]

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By: Vegetable Basket 'produces' for food pantry recipients - Vegetable Gardening Made Easy - Back Yard Vegetable Gardening