Right now, federal employees across the country are banding together to support the “Feds Feed Families” food drive. We’re nearing the end of July, and while the reports coming in look promising, we need to keep pushing ahead. August is right around the corner, which means we only have one more month to reach our USDA goal of 500,000 pounds of healthful canned goods and fresh produce.
We have a long way to go to hit our goal, so I want to provide some inspiration, using some fantastic examples from our USDA colleagues in the field.
In Maryland, our Farm Service Agency State Executive Director Charles Cawley and his daughter Amy spent four hours picking sweet corn. They ended up donating 2,235 pounds of sweet corn to the Maryland Food Bank!
Down in South Florida, Vicki Rivera-Flores and her colleagues at the Miami Plant Inspection Station are working with employees at the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) to collect mangoes from ARS mango trees to donate to two local food banks. They plan to conduct three harvests this summer. Sidenote: add this tidbit of knowledge to your USDA trivia collection: Some of the trees in the ARS collection were brought over from India in 1903, and nearly 100 years later, they are still producing delicious mangoes!
These are great stories of generosity and compassion, but not everyone has the luxury of having an abundance of produce at their fingertips. For those of you who can’t simply walk outside and fill a “Feds Feed Families” box with your own fresh produce, please consider picking up some healthful canned food items on your next trip to the grocery store.
Together, we can have a meaningful impact on the fight against hunger in America!
To learn more about how you can participate in the Feds Feed Families effort click here.