A bumper crop of tomatoes picked carefully by some volunteers found its way to many food charities this weekend, thanks to some online connections.
Goldsmith’s Farm Market and Bakery has tomatoes by the ton this year, and they were running out of time and human resources to pick them.
Debbie Oakley runs the farm and shop with her family, and often posts to social media about farming operations and their efforts toward reducing waste.
The farm market delivers food to local charities and gives imperfect produce to local livestock farmers. One of their social media followers noted they should check out an organization called Second Harvest.
Oakley said she saved the information, but didn’t think she’d be able to use it.
Then one day, she was looking at a field full of tomatoes they wouldn’t have time to harvest, and didn’t have demand for in the store.
“We’re having a banner year for field tomatoes, and they all kind of ripen at the same time,” said Oakley.
She recalled the comment and reached out to Second Harvest to ask about their food rescue program.
The program connects organizations with extra food to non-profits and charities in need of food donations.
Soon, Oakley had a team of about a dozen volunteers arrive at her family's Beaver Valley apple orchard and food farm ready to pick tomatoes and take them to area charities.
She gave them some tomato picking tips and they spent Friday afternoon in the field. Deliveries started as soon as they left the farm.
“I thought to myself, this was so easy!” said Oakley.
Through Second Harvest, Oakley was connected to the Grey Bruce chapter of United Way, who indicated they could get the tomatoes to multiple charities from Thornbury to Tobermory. They promised volunteers who brought their own containers and transportation.
Second Harvest CEO Lori Nikkel was glad to hear about the tomato crop making its way to charities.
“That’s exactly what should happen,” she said. “No farmer wants to throw their food away. They don’t produce it to throw it away.”
Second Harvest’s food rescue program was intentionally designed to be simple for farmers and other businesses to participate in with the goal of making sure food gets used for its intended purpose: feeding people.
In addition to diverting good food from landfills, where it will produce methane, it helps address food insecurity wherever charities and businesses connect to rescue food.
Second Harvest uses a fleet of refrigeration trucks and warehouse space to collect food and deliver it to food-based charities, and it also operates a mobile app to connect food producers with organizations that are feeding people.
“We have great stuff happening across the country, so why wouldn’t we just connect the dots?” said Nikkel. “There are more food charities in Canada than anybody realizes, we’re feeding kids at schools, churches, youth centres, and food banks … the food is available, let’s just connect it.”
For both Nikkel and Oakley, the food rescue program tackles two things, waste and hunger.
“We have a very large population that is food insecure,” said Nikkel. “No waste, no hunger … why wouldn’t you get that food to people who need it?”
Even though Goldsmith’s operates a market in an affluent area (The Blue Mountains), Oakley said she knows there are also people struggling, sometimes in silence, with hunger.
“We do see a need … food insecurity is a very real thing … even if it’s hidden,” said Oakley. “We can help, so we should.”
Oakley hopes her experience will resonate with other farmers in the area who have extra food, and she’s looking forward to using the program again, perhaps for the apple harvest season.
You can read more about the Second Harvest food rescue program online here, and you can find Goldsmith’s on Facebook here.
