[Community_garden] Plant A Row for the hungry

Fri Feb 15 17:15:31 EST 2008

I do know that there is some minor controversy over Second Harvest
affiliates and just your regular pantry as far as food. In Michigan at
least, the pantries have to pay the food bank -- it's minimal but some
pantry folks prefer to spend money at the local grocery store rather than
trek out and pick the food up. And therefore, a direct donation of free food
makes the pantries very happy.
On the other hand, many pantries can't accommodate large amounts of fresh
food, whereas many food banks (that is, Gleaners) can.

Kent County actually has an oversight group that coordinates the pantries
and would be where I would go for a referral - but I'm sure not all counties
have that. But probably someone in any given garden would know a pantry to
take it to - or could contact some kind of cooperating churches
organization, since an awful lot of pantries are run through churches.

Cynthia Price
Greater Grand Rapids Food Systems Council
Co-Chair, Community Food Security Coalition Urban Ag Committee

On Fri, Feb 15, 2008 at 4:22 PM, Mike McGrath <MikeMcG at ptd.net> wrote:

> Hey Fred!
>    Never meant to imply that Plant a Row was anything other than a GWA
> program; I even had whatshis name from Alaska on my show talking about his
> genesis for the idea lat year.
>
> But I was talking about the back end, which I don't think GWA ever really
> got involved in. ASH is a great resource to find the local food banks who
> can process the donations (that's "Philabundance" here). I presume the
> same
> is true with you--right? You divvy it all up between local food banks? And
> I
> presume they're affiliated with ASH?
>                                    ---McG on the IRT
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Fred Conrad" <fred.conrad at acfb.org>
> To: "Mike McGrath" <MikeMcG at PTD.net>; "Patty Zehl" <pzehl at ksu.edu>;
> <community_garden at list.communitygarden.org>
> Sent: Friday, February 15, 2008 2:41 PM
> Subject: RE: [Community_garden] Plant A Row for the hungry
>
>
> Hey, here's one I can speak to with some credibility, rather than just
> off the cuff like I usually do!
>
> I coordinate the donation side of the Atlanta Area Plant a Row for the
> Hungry Campaign (and PAR is really a Garden Writers Association thing,
> not an ASH thing).  We started in 1996 and for the first couple years we
> pegged around 600 pounds of fresh, nutritious garden produce donated by
> community gardeners, back yard gardeners and some random other folks.
>
> A few years later, the local newspaper, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
> joined us.  One of their garden writers was a member of GWA and took an
> interest.  The AJC joined us as co-sponsors, we set up a system where
> they print feature stories and generate interest, and me/we/I designate
> donation drop-off sites in 16 metro counties and track the poundage.  I
> report back to the AJC with numbers and any interesting story ideas I
> come across in the data collection process.  Now we're up to about
> 30,000 pounds per year!  Unbelievable!
>
> Last year we had one master gardener association, Fayette County MGA,
> donate over 10,000 pounds to hunger fighting charities in five counties.
> They grew, they gleaned, they loaded they donated, and they earned a
> place in heaven, I'm sure.
>
> One good thing about PAR is that summer is the slowest time for food
> drives, so food banks and pantries are always at low ebb during the best
> part of the harvest season.  Not only that, but because of the
> perishability of fresh garden produce, we don't get a lot of it anyway.
>
> The community gardens that participate usually have a very simple system
> where they put out a couple five-gallon buckets and a sign that says
> "Phil is going to drop off our donation on Thursday afternoon, so if
> you've got anything pick it Thursday morning" or something to that
> effect.
>
> So that's my two cents.  I've never been to Manhatten Kansas, but good
> luck with it there.
> fgc
>
> Fred Conrad
> Community Garden Coordinator
> Atlanta Community Food Bank
> 732 Joseph E Lowery Blvd, NW, Atlanta, GA 30318
> ph: 678.553.5932 fx: 678.553.5933
> fred.conrad at acfb.org    <http://www.acfb.org>
> Our mission is to fight hunger by engaging, educating and empowering our
> community.
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: community_garden-bounces at list.communitygarden.org
> [mailto:community_garden-bounces at list.communitygarden.org] On Behalf Of
> Mike McGrath
> Sent: Friday, February 15, 2008 2:01 PM
> To: Patty Zehl; community_garden at list.communitygarden.org
> Subject: Re: [Community_garden] Plant A Row for the hungry
>
> The food bank "America's Second Harvest" has local affiliates all over
> and coordinates a lot of collections of fresh produce in season. Check
> their web site for your nearest contact org.
>                                    ----Mike McG
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Patty Zehl" <pzehl at ksu.edu>
> To: <community_garden at list.communitygarden.org>
> Sent: Friday, February 15, 2008 1:48 PM
> Subject: [Community_garden] Plant A Row for the hungry
>
>
> >I am interested in starting a local "Plant a Row" for the hungry
> >campaign in  our area.  Some of our current gardeners take excess
> >produce to the local  food pantry, but I believe there is a lot of
> >waste.  I'm hoping to  coordinate a drop off point at the gardens with
> >volunteers picking up the  donated produce and delivering to the food
> >pantry.  Has anyone started a  PAR  campaign, or participated in one?
> >What are the lessons you learned, and  how  successful were you?
> >
> >
> >
> > Patty Zehl
> >
> > Manhattan Community Garden
> >
> > Manhattan, Kansas
> >
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