Nonprofit picks produce from neighborhood trees for nearby food banks

Food banks have a hard time sourcing cheap produce

We’ve explained earlier how difficult it can be for a food pantry to find fresh, affordable produce for their clients. Most purchase these goods from wholesalers and some go as far as to issue a call to local residents asking for in-kind donations of fresh fruit from their yards, but many food banks report more willing donors than there are volunteers to pick the fruit. Many thousands of tons of fruit go to waste every year in the average city.

Solution: Gather it from neighborhood orchards and farmers’ markets

Food Forward solves this problem by coordinating the collection efforts. They inventory fruit trees around the city and schedule the optimal time to pick, then issue a call to the general public to show up on picking day. They then donate the produce to a local food bank. Food Forward also scavenges surplus produce from warehouses and farmers’ markets.

Allowing volunteers to pick fruit from your yard is an effortless way to give back to the community. “I was astounded by the amount of fruit my one little tree yielded and was so gratified to know it would not go to waste,” said one neighborhood donor.

Get Involved

• Share this idea
• If you live in Los Angeles or Ventura counties, visit FoodForward.org and participate in their next event
• Donate produce from your neighborhood to a local food bank

Read More

• FoodForward.org
• LA Weekly | Urban Fruit Foraging Feeds L.A. Needy