When is the last time you tasted a cucumber? What about an orange or an apple? For one home-bound Lamar senior, she couldn’t remember the last time she had tasted fresh produce. After a mistake with her normal home-bound delivery service, she travelled to the senior center one Friday afternoon to get food.
Ozarks Food Harvest’s Full Circle Gardens Program has provided thousands of pounds of harvested produce from local gardens to families in need so far this season!
Each week, the neighbors surrounding Weller Community Church come together to provide fresh produce for people to take home to their families.
When Ozarks Food Harvest’s truck arrives at the Springfield church to drop off the produce, volunteers Emily and Ericka work with others sorting the fruits and vegetables to prepare for the day’s distribution.
Ozarks Food Harvest’s Glean Team began its third season on March 2 with volunteers preparing garden beds for crops at local community gardens.
Last season, volunteers gave over 1,400 hours planting and harvesting at area gardens and farms to provide nearly 23,000 pounds of fresh produce to children, families and seniors in need right here in the Ozarks.
When there isn’t enough money for groceries to last to the end of the month, struggling families often turn to less expensive, unhealthy food options.
For Pamela and her family, fresh fruit and vegetables are always the first things to go when money is tight.
“I just can’t afford it,” she shared at a recent Ozarks Food Harvest Mobile Food Pantry distribution in Springfield. “It’s hard on everyone.”