Farmers Raise Veggies For Food Bank

Farmers Raise Veggies For Food Bank CROPS New Techniques Steve and Nicky Breum have found a new market for their farm-raised vegetables This past year their Gone Green Farms delivered more than 35 700 lbs of potatoes carrots turnips beets and onions to local and regional food banks “In the past we had considered giving extras to the food bank but we had to have a way to cover our costs ” says Breum “We set up the Alberta Farm to Food Bank website It collects donations that go to Alberta food banks They use the money to purchase vegetables from us at $1 per pound ” The Breums provide the website and cover administrative costs such as advertising However the money goes directly to the food banks “When someone donates $1 they know that it buys a pound of food ” says Breum “In 2019 we delivered 14 414 lbs to the Edmonton food bank and 21 380 lbs to the Calgary Food Bank That was up 14 percent over 2018 ” Breum notes that most of the donations are small amounts from individuals They have also received larger donations from several companies As yet the donations have not kept pace with deliveries “In 2018 we received about $6 000 in revenue and took the rest in charity receipts against taxes ” reports Breum “This past year we had nearly $29 000 in gross revenue While we still can’t make a living on it it has grown 500 percent in a year ” The Breums raise about 4 acres of vegetables along with an acre of potatoes This coming year they plan to increase the potato patch to 2 acres In addition to food bank sales they also sell U-pick vegetables to local customers at $1 50 per pound “The biggest challenge with the root crops for the food banks is harvest ” says Bruem “With all the moisture in the fall the past couple years it’s been hard to get everything out of the ground We are big enough now that we need to mechanize harvest ” While making a living is necessary Bruem notes that the reaction they’ve received has been nearly as important “We’ve gotten email after email from people who’ve used the food banks or their families have ” says Breum “The positive feedback provides such an emotional return It hardly seems to matter if it pays or not ” Breum encourages other market gardeners to work with local food banks on similar programs He has heard about similar programs in the United States “We’ve talked with other food banks and suggested that if they start a program like this they should look for a little grower just starting out and help get them going ” says Bruem “If our program grows enough we hope to bring other small Alberta growers into it ” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Gone Green Farms RR#2 Westerose Alta Canada T0C 2V0 ph 780 312-6073

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