Hamilton Community News - Oct 20th 2010

Hamilton Food Share: Growing a solution to hunger

By Laura Lennie, News Staff

News
Oct 20, 2010

Currently in Hamilton, 18,600 people, including more than 8,100 children, depend on a food bank for survival every month.

The challenge for local hunger agencies is that there is an increased need amidst a climate of declining food resources from traditional sources.

Hamilton Food Share’s (HFS) Hamilton Harvest program increases both the quantity and quality of food distributed in the community, while supporting local agriculture.

“There’s no downside to this project,” said HFS executive director Joanne Santucci. “We’re connecting people who need food with people who produce food. It’s an ideal partnership that will hopefully grow province wide to ensure all food sharing organizations have regular access to fresh, nutritious produce in their own communities.”

The program was launched earlier this year. Partnering with the Ontario Association of Food Banks, Hamilton Harvest is one of four provincial sites up and running under the association’s Community Harvest program.

“It’s really important to understand that new creative and innovative ways to bring in food to a charitable organization that feeds people in need is absolutely paramount. Traditional (food) sources have been declining for a while; the community is also under the same pressures as everybody else,” Santucci, said of the reasoning behind the program. “The contributions from our community are really important, but they can’t be the source all the time. If we are going to meet the need, it will require a change in direction from receiving incidental food supplies to producing intentional food sources.”

Through the Hamilton Harvest program, organic produce is grown in the community, harvested and delivered to clients within 24 hours to preserve freshness, quality and nutritional value.

Santucci says the program offers opportunities for farms, volunteer groups and HFS to work together to provide quality, healthy food choices to community members in need.

“We’re highlighting our local agricultural community and providing opportunities for volunteer groups to help end hunger. This is a chance for them to get right on to a farmer’s field and harvest that food,” she said. “It’s so meaningful to help farmers and help people in need. It’s just an unbelievable engagement tool for people who want to be part of it.”

Plan B Organic Farms has already donated 27 acres of land to produce potatoes, onions and carrots this growing season for the Hamilton Harvest program. Additionally, other local growers have contributed green beans, peppers, squash, zucchini, lettuce, corn and tomatoes. Volunteer groups like City of Hamilton’s community services staff have also got their hands dirty for the cause. More than 25,000 pounds of produce have been distributed to date.

“It’s about making a total community-wide effort and really putting some high quality food on the table of people who need it. We have so much expertise in this area; it’s unbelievably fruitful with farmers and others who are committed to helping the community,” said Santucci. “We really want this program to be about establishing relationships, so everybody gets something out of it. It’s ultimately about working together to end hunger in our community.”

For more information on how to become involved in the HFS Hamilton Harvest program, contact program field manager Jennifer Ide at 905-664-9065 ext. 238 or jennifer@hamiltonfoodshare.org