Union Springs, Alabama (April 30, 2020) — Bonnie Plants has partnered with AmpleHarvest.org to launch the Grow More. Feed More. initiative to encourage home gardeners to donate a total of 10 million pounds of fresh, home-grown vegetables to local food pantries this season. This initiative is a way for home gardeners to give back in their own communities, as the COVID-19 pandemic has created an increased need across the nation.
Food pantries consistently lack access to fresh produce, while the average gardener grows 240 pounds of surplus food per year. The Grow More. Feed More. initiative will inspire neighbors to help neighbors by connecting home gardeners with local food pantries to contribute to solving that need, which is the mission of AmpleHarvest.org.
“This is an opportunity for home gardeners to truly make a difference, during this unprecedented time of need, nationwide. Home gardeners grow enough surplus food to feed 28 million hungry people every year, and the COVID-19 crisis has amplified the need for food, coast to coast,” said AmpleHarvest.org Founder and Executive Director Gary Oppenheimer. “Partnering with Bonnie Plants, the largest producer of vegetable and herb plants in the United States, will help us engage even more home gardeners and help bridge the gap between their home-grown harvest surplus and the need at local food pantries.”
Bonnie Plants isn’t just encouraging home gardeners to participate and donate vegetables via AmpleHarvest.org, they’re donating 5% of all plant sales through bonnieplants.com from May 1 through July 31, to AmpleHarvest.org. In addition, Bonnie Plants is leading the charge with donations from their own gardens. Test gardens in Union Springs, Alabama and in Marysville, Ohio have already been repurposed as giving gardens. All of the expected 5,000+ pounds of food grown there will be donated straight to local food pantries in their respective communities.
“We are shifting the growing plans for these gardens from test sites to high-yield gardens to grow and donate more vegetables to serve local food pantries,” said Bonnie Plants President and CEO Mike Sutterer. “As we see the COVID-19 crisis affect more of our friends and neighbors, we know that the power of home gardeners donating their own extra harvest through AmpleHarvest.org can canvas the country and create a home-grown solution, neighborhood by neighborhood, serving local food pantries and in turn people in need, nationwide.”
AmpleHarvest.org has identified nearly 8,700 member food pantries across the United States and can easily connect gardeners to the closest participating food pantry with instructions on how, where, and when to donate extra produce. COVID-19 safety protocols are in place at all partner food pantries to ensure that food is transferred safely, making the process of getting fresh food into the hands of those in need as easy as possible.
For more information about the Grow More. Feed More. initiative, please visit: bonnieplants.com/gardening/grow-more-feed-more/
