In the U.S alone, 39 million people are food insecure. 1 in 5 children don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
Consuming plenty of fruits and vegetables every day is a key factor in maintaining our health and preventing obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. The consumption of cheap, processed, nutrition absent foods has led to growing rates of these health conditions across the country. If family budgets are tight, food is often the first thing to be sacrificed. When there is money to buy food, it can be stretched further by buying highly processed, calorie-dense food with little nutritional value. For many low-income families, fresh, healthy food is out of reach. This is where America's Grow A Row comes in to aid food insecure people and families in the New Jersey area.
What America's Grow A Row Does
- Provide fresh, healthy produce to those in need
- Educate people of all generations about hunger and ways to help
- Introduce our youth to farming and healthy eating
- Cultivate tomorrow’s leaders to give back
- Contribute to the sustainability of agriculture
America's Grow A Row grows, cleans and gives away fresh produce by
organizing groups to plant and harvest from their own farms. It was started in 2002 in a 30x30 foot garden. They donated 120 pounds that year but fast-forward to 1.2 million pounds donated last year alone. They only profits they make is from donations. DONATE HERE
Every week during the seasonal months of July-October, American's Grow
A Row delivers the produce to areas in New Jersey where people lack access to
healthy, fresh, affordable produce. They partner with their community food
banks to have children’s groups come and spend a few hours at the farm
harvesting produce that they can take home to their families and communities.
This gives the children a chance to take pride in themselves and feel good
about giving back to their community.
Even more, every day volunteers rescue “retail imperfect”
produce from ShopRite stores in parts of New Jersey to help alleviate the
amount of produce that is wasted and instead give it to those that really need
it.
You too can help fight hunger in your community!
Try growing your own "row" in your backyard! Harvest vegetables and donate them to your local food bank!
What to grow
Root vegetables such as beets, carrots, turnips, potatoes, eating apples and onions are really great to donated because they are able to last weeks, if not months, in cold storage. Food banks request foods that do not need to be cooked or baked, so vegetables such as cucumbers, carrots, lettuce, tomatoes and apples are ideal as well because they can be consumed raw.
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Awareness
