If the amount of produce that is thrown out every day was saved and redistributed to the less fortunate, millions of people could be fed throughout the world.  According to the End Hunger Association, 133 billion pounds of produce went uneaten each year for the past several years just in the United States. This amount of food could have been used to feed 243,589,744 people.

The Office of Employee Wellness sent an email to the faculty announcing Hungry Harvest could be available at our school depending on the interest in the program. Hungry Harvest is an organization that collects unused produce that grocery stores just throw away or are left over because the produce was unappealing to the customers.

The organization delivers produce orders about every week or every other week depending on whether or not people subscribe that particular harvest.

For the company to come to our zone, both the middle and the high-school need at least 10 participants. Nurse Leslie Perry and Nurse Pam Kernan sent emails to the faculty sharing Hungry Harvest’s services and how to subscribe.  It was a tough start getting the Hungry Harvest up and running in the Zone but now 15 to 18 people subscribe to the program. The organization has been delivering to the Zone since January.

Signing up for the program is simple, while filling out the subscription form, the subscriber can note what their favorite produce is, so they can receive extra of their preferred produce if available for that harvest.

“You can ask for just vegetables or just fruit or both,” said Nurse Perry, high-school nurse.

This allows Hungry Harvest to add extra produce to their order when it is available.

“There are different harvest sizes to select from so if you have a large family you can order a large harvest. I order a mini harvest because it’s just for my husband and I,” said Perry.

Many people throw away their produce because it’s either bruised or rotten.

“I eat a lot of fruit. My family buys a lot of produce,” Sydney Powell (’20), student athlete said, “Usually about a quarter of it is thrown away.”

The small amounts of produce you are throwing out may not seem to make a difference

but it will eventually add up.

“My family and I try to eat at least 80 percent of our fruit and vegetables before going to the grocery store to buy more,” Tony Hagan (’20) said.

Hungry Harvest helps reduce the amount of produce wasted by distributing it to their subscribers instead of throwing it away.