In the face of inflation and a rising struggle to make ends meet, more and more families are dealing with food insecurity in West Milford and surrounding areas.
The Problem:
In budget-tight times, we turn to inexpensive food. Unfortunately, inexpensive food is typically highly processed and nutrient-deficient: think cereal, ramen noodles, canned veggies… These options may be fortified with vitamins, but are high in low-quality carbs and tend to be loaded in sugar, soy and other fillers. Additionally, they are often low in minerals, nutrients, fiber and protein. Unfortunately, fresh, local, seasonal veggies and fruits are hard to come by, have a short shelf life, and typically don’t make it to the food pantries for practical reasons. Food pantries often receive shipments from large regional food bank warehouses, part of a nationwide network operated by Feeding America. For obvious reasons, the food provided is shelf-stable, inexpensive, and produced in bulk.
Ample Harvest’s Solution:
Ample Harvest brings excess produce from backyard gardens to neighbors in need. The volunteers who participate in our local Ample Harvest program include community garden plot owners that donate from what they grow, and volunteers that plant, tend and harvest from our four dedicated 8X8 garden beds—two in our Apple Acres community gardens, and two at the Wallisch Homestead gardens.
According to statistics provided by Ample Harvest in conjunction with Global Economics and Research Practice Cisco Consulting Services (Cisco Systems), one in six people (42 million nation-wide) do not have access to fresh food, whereas 1/3rd of all food (approximately $218 billion) is wasted each year. Meanwhile, 50% of produce in the US is never consumed, while many of the 32,500+ food pantries in America do not have enough fresh fruits and vegetables to serve their community.
Ample Harvest is a national program that we first started in our Organic Community gardens here in West Milford. Our goals locally are to offer an opportunity to fill the gap between what is available, including excess from our gardens, and getting it to those in need. If you have it and are willing to donate your produce, we willl find a way to get it to those in town who need it most.
How we are helping provide food resiliency:
Attendance at all food pantries in the region have gone up exponentially as inflation rises, jobs are downgraded or eliminated making it hard hard to make ends meet. Local pantries receive the harvest on their designated food pantry day, so everything participants receive is fresh. Pantry directors shared that they see the Ample Harvest donations making a huge difference by helping many families include fresh produce in their shopping cart.
In a March 2024 article from NJ Spotlight News, NJ resident Sheila Long who makes $60,000/year at the age 63, said it was a shock when she needed to turn to the pantry. She belieevs that the pantry fills a critical role for people who can’t make ends meet, and who may not ever have expected to depend on help with groceries.
“It was a hard pill because you feel like you are self-sufficient, that you can take care of yourself so it’s disappointing when you find out that you can’t take care of yourself,” Long said in the article. “You might be one paycheck away from it and you don’t even realize it until it happens.”
We are looking for volunteers for the 2024 season.
Want to learn more? Email Cathy at cgb2673@optonline.net
