Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Mainers who access food pantries throughout the state will soon be enjoying some locally grown broccoli.
Last Wednesday, workers with the Maine Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) were gleaning broccoli in a Smith’s Farm field off the McPherson Road in Presque Isle that has since been sent to the Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn.
“Most recently we had crews in the county during the recent floods in Fort Kent,” said Robert Van Deventer, co-chair of Maine VOAD’s southern region. “When there’s not a disaster, we try to keep the volunteers active doing other things … one of which is helping out food pantries.
“Food is becoming harder and harder to get,” he said. “With the fuel prices, most of the pantries are under the gun, so the idea came up that we need to get more food out of Maine where we actually grow it … whether it be broccoli, potatoes, etc. We need to become more reliant on our own.”
Van Deventer said his northern region counterpart Brent Trueworthy, who also operates the New Beginnings Disaster Relief in Brewer, recently contacted Andy Yaeger at Smith’s Farm, and farm officials gave Maine VOAD the green light to glean broccoli for the project.
“They were willing to let us come in with a crew and glean as much as we can,” said Van Deventer, who also oversees the National Emergency Response Team based in Unity. “Today we’re hoping for somewhere in the area of between 10,000 and 20,000 pounds of broccoli that will get distributed throughout the state.
“Our volunteers are cutting the broccoli, putting it in boxes and loading the truck,” he said. “Smith’s Farm has been very gracious. Aside from the broccoli, they donated all of the boxes. The truck will then be taken to one of their plants in Westfield, and have ice put in it. Some of the broccoli will go down to Good Shepherd’s distribution in Brewer and Auburn, and then the rest will go to some of the other pantries in the state.”
Now in its 25th year of operation, the Good Shepherd Food Bank provides millions of pounds of food obtained from food manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, farmers, individuals and government sources. Good Shepherd Food Bank distributes food to every county in Maine through more than 540 food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters and other assistance programs.
Crews left Unity at 5:15 a.m. Sept. 17 to come to Presque Isle. About 20 volunteers gleaned the broccoli.
“All of our volunteers here today have connections to either the Good Shepherd Food Bank, National Emergency Response Team or New Beginnings Disaster Relief,” said Van Deventer. “It makes me very happy to know we’re helping Mainers in this way. Brent and myself both are chairpeople of two pantries, so we know what people in Maine are going through. My biggest fear is the winter. My own pantry increased 20 percent and we haven’t even hit winter yet.”
Jason Hall, director of agency relations for the Good Shepherd Food Bank, agreed.
“We feed people year-round,” he said, “but with the holiday season starting to gear up, it’s important to think about helping others. This is the time of year where people are going to make a decision between heat or food; heat or eat is what we’re calling it this season.”
This is not the Good Shepherd Food Bank’s first visit to Smith’s Farm.
“We have a long history with Smith’s Farm … we used to glean their fields 10 to 15 years ago,” he said. “We have a gleaning project that we look for farmers and volunteers. We meet at orchards, cornfields, and broccoli fields and call the gleaning army together and come out and pick food for the hungry.
“We’re used to getting things that aren’t always the most nutritious,” said Hall. “The clients that go to these pantries can’t afford broccoli in the stores, so this is an opportunity to get nutritious items to the state.”
Hall said 20 gleaning projects have already been completed this year, with another 10 coming up.
“We’ve done string beans this year, as well as tomatoes, cucumbers and corn,” he said. “We have two apple orchards coming up in Fairfield and Manchester, the broccoli field today, and an experimental field with Johnny’s Selected Seeds in Albion that will include squash, zucchini, hot peppers and some cross-bred items.
“You have to take a little initiative and find out where the food is. We have enough food to sustain the state. We have everything we need except beef,” said Hall. “It’s estimated there’s 25 million pounds of food that we bulldoze in the farmers’ fields each year … just in the state of Maine alone. We have an opportunity to partner up with different agencies and provide food to our neighbors.”
Van Deventer said the broccoli gleaning project was truly collaborative.
“Brent came up with most of the volunteers, my group is financing it, and most of the distribution will happen through Good Shepherd,” he said. “It’s a collaboration; not just one person doing it, and that’s really the key.”
For more on the Maine VOAD, log onto www.mainevoad.org.
Staff photo/Scott Mitchell Johnson
WORKERS with the Maine Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) were gleaning broccoli last Wednesday in a Smith’s Farm field off the McPherson Road in Presque Isle. The broccoli has since been sent to the Good Shepherd Food Bank in Auburn. Participating in the gleaning project were, from left: Aidan Hall, 8, and his sister, Ireland, 9, both of Durham. The kids’ father, Jason Hall, is the director of agency relations for the Good Shepherd Food Bank, which provides millions of pounds of food each year obtained from food manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, farmers, individuals and government sources.
