Unlike many programs that rely on canned goods and processed foods, The Food Pantry gives away mostly fresh fruits and vegetables to the families who come to us for groceries. Thanks to the San Francisco Food Bank and its network of local farmers, we distribute literally tons of delicious fresh produce every single week at the food pantry.

This fall and winter, we’re seeing a lot of apples and pears––including delicious, crunchy Asian pears, Bartletts, and Boscs. Cool-weather greens are coming in: rainbow and Swiss chard, kale, collards, turnip greens and beet greens….some of it grown right here in San Francisco backyards by our volunteer urban farmers! We have beautiful heads of lettuce, and bunches of fresh beets. And there’s an amazing variety of squash: butternut, Kabocha, spaghetti squash, acorn squash and more.

Hundreds of hungry families get this kind of fresh, healthy food every week. It’s wonderful to see a kid walking out eating a pear, or a mother’s cart filled to overflowing with greens. We’re grateful for the farmers who make this abundance possible, and to everyone at the Food Bank who sorts, packs and delivers those pallets every week.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 14th, 2009 at 12:59 pm and is filed under Newsletter. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.