Gleaning Model The Blue Mountain Action Council (BMAC) Food Bank gleans produce from commercial farms and orchards, farmers markets and residential gardens and trees. Most of the gleaned produce is within Walla Walla, Columbia and Umatilla counties. The process of gathering information and planning is…
Take advantage of your community’s strengths! Walla Walla and nearby College Place are both towns with strong religious communities. WWCH partnered with two religious institutions – a United Methodist church and the chaplaincy at the Seventh Day Adventist general hospital – to establish fresh produce…
Culls and harvested donations made a huge impact in the amount of produce WWCH received this year. The Harvest VISTA would first contact growers to see how much extra produce was available and arranged a pick-up or drop-off. WWCH has access to BMAC vehicles, so…
Cooking Classes Contact the local university extension office or county offices to inquire on availability of any cooking classes offered. The Walla Walla County Health Department offers samples of freshly cooked meals at several food banks using affordable and easy recipes. Coordinate with the class…
Community Food Forums Many food bank clients who receive gleaned produce from WWCH or other community donations may not know how to efficiently use an abundance of seasonal fresh produce before it goes bad. During sweet onion season, for example, WWCH brings in thousands of…
Plant-a-row and starts Encourage gardeners to Plant an Extra Row (PAR) for the hungry. If possible, get seeds donated attached with a note with information about donating to local food banks. Distribute them at community events, schools, churches, and businesses or fill a basket with seeds and information to…
Please feel free to share these fun and informative vegetable profile sheets at your food bank or program. English: Arichokes Beets Broccoli Cabbage Cardoons Carrots Celeriac Chard Cilantro Cucumber Eggplants Green Beans Kale Kohlrabi Parsnips Potato Radishes Rapini Rhubarb Snow Peas Summer Squash Turnips Winter…
Growing Plant Starts It is always a good idea to be looking for supplemental forms of income for a project such as Elk Run Farm, where most of the funds have been sanctioned for specific needs such as building physical infrastructure. Selling plant starts is a…
Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes the community’s farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risk and benefits of food production.
The Back-Farms program connects volunteer Garden Apprentices with senior citizens to build, cultivate, and maintain organic gardens in their backyards at no cost to the senior.