Southern Indiana fund feeds hungry by buying leftover food

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) - What does a farmer do with 70 pounds of squash at the end of a farmers' market?

Teresa Birtles of Heartland Family Farms in Spencer sold the whole bunch for half price to a local group that donated it to the Community Kitchen of Monroe County.

That was six years ago, in the formative year of what is now the Farm to Family Fund.

The fund purchases produce, meat, eggs and dairy products from area farmers at the end of each week's Bloomington Winter Farmers' Market to be distributed to three Bloomington agencies that serve people in need of food.

"If you give $100, we can buy $600 worth of food," said Deborah Piston-Hatlen, a board member for the fund. "It's really amazing."

That's possible due to the 2-for-1 matching grant largely funding the program, along with farmers selling their product at half price.

What began with six heads of lettuce and some kale has grown to more than 30 kinds of vegetables, fruit, eggs, meat and dairy products being distributed by a handful of volunteers to The Rise, Community Kitchen of Monroe County and Mother Hubbard's Cupboard.

The concept for the fund grew from a 2012 lunch for farmers after the winter market had ended. Both market officials and farmers decided that purchasing leftover produce at half price and donating it to various agencies was a great idea.

That first year, a single donor paid to fund the program, which at first only delivered food to The Rise. When Birtles approached Farm to Family board member Janice Lilly about her butternut squash, Lilly called Community Kitchen to ask if they could use it. Within the next two weeks, another farmer approached Lilly saying he had too many eggs and asking if the fund wanted to purchase them.

That's when Lilly called Mother Hubbard's Cupboard, and it was added to the agencies receiving produce. That first year, $2,700 raised to provide food to the three agencies.

This past year, a lot of changes have taken place: a total of $15,459 was raised with donations from individuals, churches and a grant from a private foundation; eggs from winter farmers' market vendors were purchased throughout the year for Mother Hubbard's Cupboard; and the Farm to Family Fund became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. In past years, it had operated as part of the Center for Sustainable Living.

More changes are expected this summer, when vendors at Bloomington's Tuesday Farmers' Market - which opens June 4 - will be able to participate in the Farm to Family Fund, extending the fresh produce provided to food-insecure people throughout the year.

"We're looking for ways to make the Tuesday market more viable for farmers and maybe even attract more farmers to it," said Marcia Veldman, farmers' market coordinator for Bloomington.

Veldman approached the Farm to Family board asking if they would be willing to add the Tuesday market to its program. The group reached out to Mother Hubbard's Cupboard, also known as "the Hub," to see if they would be willing to receive the produce, which they were. A concern was transporting the food, which is done by volunteers at the winter market. The expense of transporting the food was included in the grant for the Tuesday market and it was decided the Hub will provide a driver and truck.

"It's very much a pilot project," Piston-Hatlen said. "We don't know what's going to happen."

But it is a way to expand the program's reach throughout the year and help the Hub.

"They were really eager to get access to the fresh produce," Veldman said. "They get a big influx early in the week but then by Wednesday, they have a much more limited produce availability."

Another positive component of the Farm to Family Fund is that it pays farmers for their contributions, according to Amanda Nickey, CEO of Mother Hubbard's Cupboard.

She explained that not all of the produce donated to the Hub and other area food banks and agencies has paid the people who grow and provide it. The fact that the Farm to Family Fund invests in local farmers and works with them to plan ahead of time what they can afford to have purchased at a lower rate is something Nickey admires.

"We appreciate the model and that they're willing to pay some of the cost to the farmers," she said. "It's a really sustainable model as far as helping the farmers and helping us."

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Source: The Herald-Times

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Information from: The Herald Times, http://www.heraldtimesonline.com