Press Releases

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2022
By Jenna Intersimone | MyCentralJersey.com | USA TODAY NETWORK

New Jersey rents have gone up nearly 33% in the last year alone.

Food costs went up more than 11% in 2022, the largest annual increase in over 40 years.

And gas prices, although finally falling, are still averaging about a dollar more than they were in 2019. In the post-COVID world, many families are struggling to make ends meet. But that’s a reality that Rolling Harvest Food Rescue, a non-profit organization serving New Jersey and Pennsylvania counties, was fighting a decade before the pandemic.

The food rescue organization connects local farmers with food pantries and other food recipient sites to share their produce with food insecure communities.

“The first thing that families have to sacrifice is healthy food, which happens to be more expensive food,” said Cathy Snyder, founder and executive director of Rolling Harvest Food Rescue.

“It’s a scary time. Forty percent of the people we’re helping now could not have imagined two years ago that they would go to a community meal or a food pantry,” she continued. “We’re not going to cure hunger, but we can certainly alleviate some budgetary pressure and provide healthy, basic food. Maybe it means you can pay your heating bill because we’re helping you out on the food end.”

By partnering with over 40 farms and 200 volunteers, Rolling Harvest Food Rescue harvests seasonal Garden State produce, such as corn, tomatoes, strawberries and asparagus, for 80 food pantries across Hunterdon and Mercer counties, and Bucks and Montgomery counties in Pennsylvania, to feed 34,000 people each year. And it starts with one text.

“Farmers just text us and say, ‘We have broccoli, tomatoes, etc. left in the field, come and get it,’” Snyder said. “Usually within a day we have organized a dozen gleaners, and we come with our crates, take everything and distribute immediately.” Produce is distributed through Fresh Connect, which gives food directly to families in need through four free farmers’ markets in Bucks County, or through local food pantries such as Flemington Area Food Pantry, Fisherman’s Mark Food Pantry in Lambertville, Frenchtown Presbyterian Church, and the Delaware Valley Food Pantry in Lambertville.

The reasons why a farmer would not want to harvest all their grown produce include a lack of labor or high costs of labor; time and weather, in case an impending storm will make it difficult to harvest an entire crop; or even a few ugly ducklings.

“If it’s not perfect, they can’t sell it,” said Snyder. “If a carrot has two legs, it’s just as delicious. And if a tomato has a little bump on it, it’s just as delicious — but they can’t sell that so they won’t go to the expense of harvesting it.” It all began when Snyder was volunteering at a Lambertville food pantry. One day, she had an epiphany as she left her volunteer shift to head to a farmers’ market.

“I could load up at the farmers market, come home and serve this wonderful, local, healthy meal to my family, and I would go back to the pantry the next day and it wasn’t the kind of food I was seeing,” Snyder said. “I just had that ‘aha’ moment that this was so wrong. And that was the start of it.”

To help: Volunteer by visiting rollingharvest.org/volunteer-opportunities or donate by visiting rollingharvest.org/make-a-donation.

To get help: If you are a Bucks County resident, you can apply to visit one of Rolling Harvest Food Rescue’s free farmers’ markets at rollingharvest.org/education-programs/fresh-connect-bucks-county/. If you are a resident of another county, visit one of their partner food pantries at https://rollingharvest.org/hunger-relief-recipients/rollingharvest.org/hunger-relief-recipients/.

From a May 21, 2020 Press Release

Wolf Administration Awards $9.6 million in Grants to Help the Charitable Food System

The Wolf Administration will be awarding more than $9 million to non-profit entities for projects to fight hunger and prevent food waste. The awards come from the expanded Food Recovery Infrastructure grant program announced in April.

Grants will allow food banks, shelters and soup kitchens to cover the costs of equipment purchases necessary to prepare, transport and store food acquired from retailers, wholesalers, farms, processors and cooperatives. Examples of eligible equipment that will be funded include refrigerated or non-refrigerated box trucks, industrial-sized refrigerators, pallet jacks and/or dollies. Installation and shipping costs were also eligible for support.

Increased demand on the charitable food system related to COVID-19 has demonstrated an immediate need for resources to support additional cold storage space, and more flexibility and changes to this grant program. The changes made in April encouraged partnerships between nonprofit organizations such as food banks and farms, processors and cooperatives that continue to experience challenges within the food supply chain as a result of the COVID-19 emergency.

“Many people across the state are feeling the strain of losing jobs or other income related to the COVID-19 crisis, and this will help provide a safety net to ensure that our fellow Pennsylvanians are not going hungry,” said Governor Tom Wolf. “This program also helps ensure that our farmers are not in a position where they have to waste the food and dairy products grown on their farms because of market upheavals.”

“Our goal when expanding the Food Recovery Infrastructure Grant was to quickly get money to the people that could do the most to help, and the charitable organizations of Pennsylvania responded,” said Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Patrick McDonnell. “These grants will help guarantee food security to our residents that need it.”

“These grantees have demonstrated their commitment to feeding Pennsylvanians and simultaneously supporting agriculture,” said Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding. “This grant program is our trifecta, a win-win-win for our commonwealth: allowing food banks to keep fresh produce and dairy stocked and provide it to those in need, eliminating food waste, and preventing losses for our hardworking farmers who have had to deal with so much uncertainty.”

The recipients of the 145 awards include food banks, soup kitchens and churches from across the commonwealth.

The full list of recipients is here.

Based on the most recent survey in early May, Feeding Pennsylvania member food banks are reporting an average increase in demand of 55 percent over what they were seeing one year ago today. Unused or unsold food ends up in landfills, where it can biodegrade and release greenhouse gases like methane. The EPA estimates that in 2015 (the last year when information was available), more than 30 million tons of food waste went into landfills nationwide.

Funding for the grant was made available for Pennsylvania nonprofit organizations for grant assistance for the proper management and operation of food waste reduction pursuant to the Pennsylvania Municipal Waste Planning, Recycling and Waste Reduction Act of 1988, Act 101.

NEWS PROVIDED BY
Applegate
Nov 16, 2016, 08:59 ET

BRIDGEWATER, N.J., Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire/ — Applegate®, the nation’s leading natural and organic meat brand, has donated $10,000 to Rolling Harvest Food Rescue, a food non-profit aiming to turn food pantries into farmers markets. The donation was made in honor of Hormel Foods’ On Our Way to Ending Hunger program. Applegate Farms, LLC (Applegate) is a stand-alone subsidiary of Hormel Foods Corporation (NYSE: HRL).

A News Report broadcast by ABC’s Channel 6 Actions News
November 10, 2015

VIEW VIDEO HERE

BUCKS COUNTY (WPVI)– Every year, 6ABC partners in the region’s largest food drive. The need this holiday season is as great as ever, with 1 in 6 people at risk of going hungry.