ACTION Health’s Community Wellness Task Force has been focused for nearly 2 years on a project called Spring into Action for Healthy Nutritious Foods.  The goal of the project is to increase awareness, knowledge and access to healthy foods (specifically fresh produce) for residents in our area that utilize food banks. In our changing economy, food banks are being utilized more frequently by residents and the need for fresh produce to be included in their food allotment is increasingly evident. Therefore, our project aims at getting local farmers and growers to donate their excess produce to food banks.

Our project started with a comprehensive survey of local food banks, which enabled us to collect all the vital information about these facilities, including their hours of operation, average number of participants, and ability to store perishable food items. This information was compiled into a database and distributed to local farmers, asking them to donate their excess produce to local food banks. In addition, flyers and media releases have been distributed both last year and this year to encourage local gardeners to donate their excess produce. Despite these efforts, donations have not significantly increased.

Our project also includes educational components for the food bank recipients. Produce cards have been created to teach participants how to store and prepare local produce, so that no healthy foods go to waste.

In addition, we’ve reached out to local grocery stores inquiring about their protocols related to produce that is no longer eligible for sale, but could still be classified as usable nutritious food. Unfortunately, there is no designated recipient for these items to be donated and instead they are disposed of. As members of the Community Wellness Task Force of ACTION Health, we are trying to find ways to make this project work.

At the June meeting, limitations to the project were discussed and several challenges were identified. First, local food banks are only open for small windows of time throughout the month, making distribution of perishable produce quite difficult. In addition, delivery of the produce from donors to the food bank can prove difficult, given the limited shelf life of the produce and the limited hours of the food banks. Once the produce is actually available at the food banks, it is difficult to get food bank recipients to pick it up if it is not a regular food distribution date. In addition, local farmers have growing financial obligations and donations can be challenging for them.

We would like to take this opportunity, with the aforementioned limitations in mind, to invite you, the reader, for input or thoughts you may have on this project. We have compiled the data from the local food banks and feel this project could have a significant impact in our community. But with these limitations, we need support from the community to find a way to increase donations and access to healthy foods for residents in our area that need it the most.

Our program extends from May through September (our local growing season).  If anyone has questions, thoughts or feedback concerning where to drop off produce, how to increase produce donations, how to participate in the program, or any other suggestions, please call ACTION Health at 570-275-9150.