Excess produce being donated to local food pantries

    OAKFIELD — Nature’s Bounty Food Pantry has joined the Ample Harvest.org campaign, a nationwide effort to enable neighborhood food pantries to be easily located by local backyard gardeners wishing to share their excess garden bounty with neighbors in need.
    “Local food pantries usually receive their supplies from regional food banks, government programs and neighborhood donations,” said Debbie Gray, executive director for the shelter. “They generally do not include fresh produce because of distribution and storage issues leaving food pantry clients with access only to canned vegetables and fruit.”
    With one out of eight American families now relying on pantries to help feed them, the pantries often have a hard time meeting the demand, according to Gray.
    At the same time, millions of backyard gardeners across America frequently find that their vegetable and fruit gardens provide far more produce than they can possibly use or share with friends.   The remainder is often either left to rot in the garden or put into the trash, which produces methane as it decomposes – a global warming gas.
    Gardeners who want to share part of their harvest are often unable to find local pantries because they typically don’t have yellow page listings or an Internet presence.
    To address this, the Ample Harvest.org web site enables food pantries to register their name, phone, address, an optional photograph of the pantry to make it easier to find, and day[s] of the week and time of the day they’ll accept the gardeners produce. 
    Now that Nature’s Bounty Food Pantry is a part of the Ample Harvest.org campaign, area backyard gardeners will be able to easily find the pantry using the personalized driving instructions available on the site.
    According to Ample Harvest.org founder, Gary Oppenheimer, “Two years ago, my own garden grew more produce than we could possibly use, and I quickly found that there are only so many cucumbers you can give to friends and still have them call you a friend.  Our community garden also left a lot of produce to rot on the vines.  When I searched on the Internet for pantries, the nearest one listed was 25 miles away even though my own town has five. That was when it became clear that Ample Harvest.org was desperately needed”.
    Nature’s Bounty Food Pantry welcomes fresh produce donations for its clients.  Additionally, information will be posted from time to time by the pantry on the site, listing those store bought items that are in short supply at the pantry – this to enable anyone wishing to help their neighbors in need.
    Nature’s Bounty Food Pantry, which serves a large number of elderly, disabled and working poor families, is located on the Thompson Settlement Road in Oakfield. The group is available for deliveries at anytime. For more information, call 521-4239.