Food banks get to see all the fads in food supply, because sooner, later or during, they will inherit the remnants of these fads. For example, the great hummus fad of the past couple of years has waned. Once frequently received through grocery rescue programs, we don’t see hummus anymore. Can kale be next? An acutal nutritional powerhouse, big food has co-opted this current touchstone into every kind of snack you could imagine so the word “kale” can appear somewhere on the label.
We rarely see donations of the actual vegetable kale, but we frequently see kale snacks. Eventually the kale fad will wind down as well. Greek yogurt anyone? Some of these fads have actual nutritional value, but that part doesn’t matter in food marketing, which sweeps them in and out of fashion.
While the great grocery games with the buying public continue, and kale or beets become 19th on a list of ingredients in a snack product, food banks must figure out ways to distribute real vegetables to clients. ShareNet’s Fresh Look program has targeted large-scale purchases of fresh and frozen produce for distribution to our clients. A complementary strategy is to form partnerships or purchase arrangements with local farms and growers.
The partnership we formed with Kingston Farm and Garden Co-op’s Giving Garden continues to reap benefits for our clients, in the form of real vegetables hot off the press. From 700 lbs. of donated produce at the garden’s inception in 2011 to almost 2,500 lbs in 2016, there’s been a lot of experimenting and a lot of growth. There’s also been a lot of love and hard work, which any garden requires.
Speaking for the garden, Kathy Curry says, “Job one is to produce as many healthy vegetables as we can, healthy for both people and the land,” meaning the garden is organically managed and sustainably grown, using drip irrigation, composting and mulching, crop rotation, and companion planting. The Garden is trying to increase production by growing its footprint, using a high tunnel and low tunnels to extend the growing season, using raised beds against rainy spring weather and unwelcome guests, and generating its own compost.
With always changing conditions, the garden knows to improve yield it must be open to new methods and ideas. Homegrown ideas from their own volunteers have included no-till gardening (new in 2018), compost teas, in-line fertilization, gutter planters, elimination of plastic mulches and new approaches to varmint control. Other innovations include toilet paper rolls for starting seeds, utilization of donated newspaper and cardboard for weed control and mulching, as well as accepting donations of farm manure, coffee grounds, and last year’s seeds and leftover plants.
Some of the projects which may come to fruition in 2018 are construction of an asparagus bed and an herb bed. Asparagus roots were donated to the garden, and the hope is the use of fresh herbs in cooking may reduce the use of salt. More general purpose raised beds are also on the table; if production increases from those already in place they will build more. A longer-term consideration is construction of a prep area for making produce easier to clean before delivery.
Another area in which ShareNet and garden interests align is the constant need for more volunteers. The garden has enjoyed great support from a small but strong core of regulars, occasionally augmented by local youth such as the KHS Honor Society and Washington Youth Academy, and church and scout groups. Despite great support, still the work outweighs the amount of support, and day to day tasks fall on a core of faithful volunteers who shoulder responsibility for keeping the project going.
For the garden that core is the Patti Pearson and Kinley Deller family, the Aline and Paul Bradley family, Brenda Blodgett, Anne McDermott and her daughter, Isobel Crump and Frank Bekker, Andy and Nile Clark, and Kathy Curry. We thank all of them for their incredible work over the years, their incredible service to the community, and Kathy for her assistance with this article. For more information or to contribute your garden expertise, visit www.growkingston.org.
