The campaign encourages private or commercial gardeners and farmers to “grow an extra row” of food and donate the extra harvest to local food banks and meal programs. Discussing what fruits or vegetables are most needed and what kind of volume each organization can handle is an important step to the program, as donating more food than the food banks can move will result in wasted food. 

Good Food Garden and the Vankleek Hill Food Bank have made their own local expansions to the program. Peggy McDonald of Good Food Garden plants enough for extra CSA baskets specifically to donate to the food bank, and she also allows CSA clients to donate any unused weeks to the food bank. 

“We agree that Good Food Garden has a great idea,” said the Vankleek Hill Food Bank’s Jane Fantie. “The CSA format delivers fresh vegetables on a weekly basis throughout the growing season. Our clients get to choose the vegetables that they like and will use. The VKH Food Bank showcases the large variety of vegetables grown locally, offers recipes for lesser-known veggies, and encourages healthy eating. An added bonus is that there is less waste when clients choose what they like!” 

To learn more about ‘Grow an Extra Row’, visit https://www.agro-on.ca/pages/grow-a-row.