A nationwide initiative that connects farms to families with fresh produce arrived in Salinas on May 7, drawing hundreds of people to Vineyard Church, where over 1,000 boxes of fresh produce and other food items were distributed.
Planet Harvest, makers of specialty food boxes, in partnership with Fresh Express, a leading producer of ready-to-eat packaged salads and Chiquita launched the “Fresh Communities Tour” in Florida and will stop at cities across the United States.
Each box that was distributed Wednesday contained 12 pounds of produce, including Fresh Express salad kits, oranges, apples, carrots, potatoes and lemons along with either chicken or tuna and rice and beans. An entire section was devoted to bananas, which were handed out in bunches.
Fresh Express President John Olivo said being in Salinas was especially meaningful for himself, the company and the teams of volunteers who were helping with the food distribution.
“Our facility is less than five minutes away from here,” Olivo said. “Everyone here today that is volunteering are from our facility and live right here in Salinas.”
Fresh Express employs nearly 1,000 people from across the Salinas Valley, Olivo said.
“This is where the produce starts—in the fields of Salinas,” Olivo said. “The community here is what helps us grow, harvest, and ship our product throughout the United States.”
Planet Harvest CEO Melissa Ackerman said the tour will continue to Miami and Chicago.
“Our dream is to think about how we can do something further with Fresh Express and be present here in Salinas—we are talking through that right now with Melissa [Kendrick] and the Monterey food bank,” Ackerman said.
The Food Bank for Monterey County was at the distribution with supplementary food items and prepared meals.
“It’s been a tough, tough, year, so to have these two organizations step up is phenomenal,” said Melissa Kendrick, Executive Director of Food Bank for Monterey County. “This is how we’re going to get out of this and feed people.”
Kendrick said the need has been great ever since the COVID pandemic. Add to that inflation and a rising cost of living in the region, has made for “really challenging times.”
“We’re currently feeding one in three children, one in four adults, and one in three seniors in the county—veterans, homeless,” said Kendrick, who despite the ever growing need remains optimistic.
“What today says is we can solve hunger, and we can certainly solve hunger in this county by partnering with industry—partnering with ag,” Kendrick said. “That is why I am completely optimistic that in the very near future not only are we going to be able to feed our county, but we are going to feed them healthy food.”
This article originally appeared on Salinas Californian: Salinas food drive distributes 1,000 boxes of produce to hundreds
Reporting by Roseann Cattani, Salinas Californian / Salinas Californian
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
