Sharing your Harvest this Season

Growing our own food is an amazing luxury. Even if it's only a basil plant on our kitchen windowsill, no green leaf ever tasted so delicious on our tomatoes, in our sauces, or added to a chic artisanal cocktail. But for many Americans, growing food is just that, a luxury. Concrete jungles can get in the way of seedlings. Working two or three jobs to sustain your family can wear you out. Fresh vegetables are disease fighting, tasty creations of nature, and no matter your personal situation, no one should be denied the taste of a freshly picked red bell pepper or sugary sweet cherry tomato.

Let me share an amazing website with you. Before I do, however, let me say these folks are not the only people in this country doing great work. We all know friends, relatives, or people unknown to us personally, who are making a difference in our Nation everyday. AmpleHarvest.org makes it their mission to allow gardeners to share their bounty with local food pantries. As their mission states, "AmpleHarvest.org envisions an America where millions of gardeners eliminate malnutrition and hunger in their own communities using only their backyard gardens."

Everyone of us holds the power to help feed our neighbors in need. This May, plant one extra tomato plant - a prolific grower - and dedicate all it's fruit to a local food pantry. How easy is that?! To me, America is helping those in need; giving children access to foods that will help them grow and focus in school. I hope you'll join me this summer, your FOLK MANfarmer, to help someone you may never know, put down the potato chips, and pick up an apple. We may not be solving world peace, but, perhaps, we may just be helping the next generation do it.