By Tom Spalding, Communications Volunteer
Boulevard Place Food Pantry wouldn’t be able to offer our clients farm-fresh vegetables and fruits without the generous aid of the small-business agricultural industry. Nowhere is that more evident than the Broad Ripple Farmers Market, the source of the majority of our colorful bounty year-round. The market and multiple vendors graciously fill our bins with unsold merchandise after each market Saturday, which our volunteers pick up and bring to the Pantry to be sorted, displayed and offered to clients the following week.
This pantry partnership dates back at least 15 years and is year-round. We thought it was a good time to do a showcase since July is the symbolic height of the summer growing season. Also, 2023 was officially a high water mark for their donations—13,000 pounds, the equivalent of 6.5 tons.
“We grow food because we want to feed and provide nourishment and sustenance to people. When we have what’s left over—what we can’t sell—we feel good about giving it to someone who can use it and need it,” says Jim Baughman of Freedom Valley Farms in west central Indiana, which is a key donor. “That’s very important to all of us.”
Fresh produce is at the top of our shoppers’ wish lists, but they don’t always know the source. There is no branding on the farmers’ donated bins of lettuce, ripe round red tomatoes or hearty yellow gourd. In this relationship, lack of name recognition and credit doesn’t matter to the farmers. As an outlet, the Pantry ensures that nothing goes to waste.
“Working with Boulevard Place Food Pantry is very valuable to us, especially the pick-up you provide. It gives us the peace of mind to harvest as much as we can—and sometimes over,” says Genesis Mckiernan-Allen of Full Hand Farm (FHF). “It allows me to know it’s going to a good home.”
FHF (of Noblesville) sells fresh-market vegetables at the market weekly—40 different types over a typical year. Kale, carrots, zucchini, herbs, celery and rutabaga are regular offerings. BRFM represents about 60% of their FHF’s income, so she used to be somewhat despondent about having leftovers. With perishables, time is the real challenge.
She relays a story of years ago from family friend Sue Kobets, a longtime small business co-owner (Illinois Street Food Emporium) who is a Pantry volunteer. Kobets knew the struggle of having unsold perishables that may never get eaten.
“She (Sue) reassured me, “‘If you could see the faces of the people receiving this, you wouldn’t think twice about it.’ I tell that story and it still brings me to tears. I was already on board and after that conversation, I was on board 110%.”
Many growers will add to their crops to ensure inventory and ensure the Pantry won’t depart empty-handed. Like Becky Brubaker of Weathered Plow, they’ll save us signature pieces, including odd-shaped but delicious vegetables.
The Pantry gratefully receives fresh produce from other sources: SHARP, Rivi and Rocky Ripple Gardens, among others, shares Matt Hayes, pantry director.
“This local food partnership is an enduring blessing to those who live in ‘food deserts’ and can’t easily source fresh nutritious offerings and healthy food options,” he says.
Barbara Wilder of the Broad Ripple Farmers Market said volunteers who donate time at the Pantry (Kobets, Lisa Wilson and Mark Varnau) are “phenomenal”—both the ones who glean at the Market and the ones who staff the Panty.
“It is no small feat to staff a gleaning operation for a large farmers market that operates 51 Saturdays a year,” she says.
That’s true. The post-July 4 haul weighed in at 440 pounds.
“But they get the job done and add real value to what we do as a Market and what the Pantry provides to its client base,” she says. “Their work assures fresh produce from our Market supports the health and well-being of folks who might otherwise not have access. It’s truly a win-win.”
