The goal of AmpleHarvest is to diminish hunger in America by facilitating the donation of excess backyard garden produce that otherwise would have been left to rot in gardens. These donations are then assigned to local food pantries. If you are interested in this kind of partnership, click here to register for FREE.
For more information read below or visit their website.
Introduction
AmpleHarvest.org, founded by CNN Hero Gary Oppenheimer, is a nationwide non-profit that uses the Internet to diminish wasted food and hunger, improve nutrition and help the environment in America by educating, encouraging and empowering millions of backyard gardeners to easily find a local food pantry eager for their excess garden bounty.
Currently there are 7,725 food pantries across all 50 states registered on AmpleHarvest.org, and more are joining every day.
AmpleHarvest.org has received support and backing from Google Inc., the White House and the USDA, the National Council of Churches, the National Gardening Association, Feeding America and its member food banks, Garden Writers of America as well as numerous faith organizations. It is available to food pantries (and similar feeding programs) and gardeners at no charge.
The Vision
AmpleHarvest.org envisions an America where millions of gardeners eliminate wasted food, malnutrition and hunger in their own community.
The Mission
AmpleHarvest.org diminishes the waste of food and therefore hunger in America by educating, encouraging and enabling gardeners to donate their excess harvest to the needy in their community instead of allowing it to rot in the garden.
The Message
A number of America’s problem could be diminished or even solved if everyone valued our resources, especially fresh food, as the treasure it really is. Our message to America is:
No Food Left Behind
The Impact
- Currently 7,725 food pantries across all 50 states are registered to receive a sustainable and recurring supply of freshly harvested, locally grown food (many for the first time) from area growers – for free!
- Millions of pantry clients can feed their family fresh food instead of food packaged with added salt and sugar thereby reducing the likelihood of diet related illness such as diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.
- Tens of millions of pounds of freshly harvested locally grown produce had been donated to food pantries.
- Children, now at greater risk of obesity than ever before, are exposed to fresh produce with many learning for the first time that apples do not normally come pre-sliced in cellophane, peas come in pods and not cans and carrots are normally sweet and crunchy.
- Gardeners across America enjoy the satisfaction of knowing that they are helping their neighbors in need by reaching into their backyard instead of their back pocket.
- Families are introduced to new varieties of food they may have had no prior access to.
- The carbon footprint of the pantries is reduced as locally sourced food (without packaging or cans trucked across the country that need to be disposed of) is used.
- The community waste stream is reduced (taxes too!) as excess food is donated instead of being thrown away thereby also reducing methane emissions (a climate change gas with 20 times the impact of CO2) at trash dumps
- All this occurs at no cost to the donor or the food pantry.