The sixth annual Produce Bounty will provide fresh local produce to community members in need on Monday. Regional gardeners and farmers are encouraged to donate their excess fruit and vegetables to the Produce Bounty Project, which aims to bolster food assistance programs with a fresh infusion of garden crops.
This food will be packaged and distributed by volunteers during Commodity Foods Monday, providing fresh produce 120 local families with food insecurity. Qualifying individuals and families- those who earn 185 percent or less of the federal poverty threshold- can receive food distributed at the La Plata County Fairgrounds from 8-10 AM on Monday September 19, 2016.
To encourage families to make good use of the local produce, Cooking Matters will be teaming up with CSU Extension and the Durango Food Bank to provide cooking lessons and nutrition education. The commodity foods and locally gleaned produce will be used to demonstrate simple, inspiring dishes for food recipients to sample and recreate at home.
Those interested in volunteering for the event can sign up at http://www.signupgenius.com/go/30e0d44aba92ea1ff2-produce.
If community members would like to share their harvest, produce can be dropped off from noon to 5 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday at the La Plata County Fairgrounds.
For more information, contact Erin Jolley of Cooking Matters Colorado at ejolley@strength.org or Katheryn Maloney at Katheryn.maloney@gmail.com.
