From the garden

Last week, I blogged about how many readers enjoyed the story about France banning unsold food. In case you missed it, France is going to force large supermarkets to donate their food to charities. The story has been getting lots of views on our Facebook page and on Twitter.

Then there are companies who don’t wait for the food to go unsold. Companies like Suntech Greenhouses. I tweeted last week about how during the late spring and summer months they donate tomatoes to us every Thursday.

Our food services coordinator Dan Gardiner got on the truck and made his way to Manotick for the weekly pick-up. He brought back with him more than 1,700 tomatoes.

The men and women who make their way through our soup kitchen seven days a week, sometimes three times a day, really benefit from fresh food. We all do. The kitchen can use the tomatoes to make sauces, a variety of dishes, or just a good ol’ tomato sandwich. Who doesn’t enjoy a tomato sandwich? I can tell you when I take a walk through the dining area, a lot of our clients are enjoying those tomatoes.

The summer months are always a great time to provide more fresh food to our clients who visit out grocery program. Donations like these make that possible. For those of us who have backyard gardens, harvest time is still a ways off. But when the time comes, if you find yourself with too many cucumbers, strong beans, potatoes or any vegetable, we’ll happily take them off your hands.