Cherries being picked today in a Barrie back yard will feed families who use the food bank.
FruitShare Barrie launched this week, with volunteers reaching up in local trees to pluck ripe fruit to be shared jointly with the owner, the volunteers and the Barrie Food Bank.
“We already bring in vegetables from various community gardens,” Barrie Food Bank executive director Peter Sundborg said.
“Having fresh fruit means we can give people something even more nutritious than just vegetables, in addition to the carbs, like pastas.”
He said it’s a great way to rescue food that may otherwise go to waste.
“A lot of people with back yard fruit tries have a lot of fruit on them that doesn’t get picked. This is the opportunity to rescue food, right in town.”
While Stayner-area orchards provide apples in the fall, Sundborg hopes this idea becomes a more constant supply.
Erich Jacoby-Hawkins, a member of Living Green Environmental Action Barrie, said he heard about the fruit-picking idea in Toronto more than a year ago.
“We’re glad to get this project off the ground, or off the tree,” Jacoby-Hawkins said, adding several people came forward to volunteer.
Toronto’s Not Far From The Tree program started in 2008 in one neighbourhood and now 15 neighbourhoods participate, harvesting sweet and sour cherries, mulberries, apples, pears and walnuts.
reprinted from : http://www.simcoe.com/news-story/3907196-your-produce-can-feed-needy-in-barrie/