Valley farm fighting food insecurity with pay-what-you-can u-pick event
Richard Woodbury | CBC News | Posted: September 9, 2017 11:00 AM | Last Updated: September 9, 2017
TapRoot Farms invites residents to harvest surplus corn this weekend
A farm in Nova Scotia's Annapolis Valley with a surplus of corn is holding a pay-what-you-can u-pick this weekend with the hope people who need food the most can benefit from the unusual initiative.
This is the final corn harvest of the year for TapRoot Farms, and after sluggish sales to larger retailers, the farm decided on this approach to get rid of the corn that remains.
"We want people to make good use of this food. We don't want to just plow it in," said Patricia Bishop.
"It doesn't make sense for us to go harvest it if we don't have a sale for it. So how about if we invite people to come and have an experience harvesting corn, have the opportunity to provide for people who maybe don't have a whole lot of access to good, fresh food, and to be able to participate in the local food system?"
The u-pick will operate at the farm's cornfield at 451 Canard St. in Lower Canard and will run from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The suggested price is $2.50 per dozen.
Bishop said those who can't afford to pay that amount can take what they need and they don't have to make it known they can't pay.
"Hopefully, what will happen is some people will come and pay, and some people will come and harvest to be able to put food away and it will all balance out at the end of the day," she said.
Bishop said there's a crisis with people being able to access healthy food.
Food insecurity in Nova Scotia
A Food Banks Canada report from November 2016 stated food bank use was up 20 per cent in Nova Scotia over the previous year. That report stated 23,840 people used food banks in March 2016.
Bishop isn't sure what impact the u-pick will have.
"We need to do more. I'm not sure it's the right way to do more, but it's one thing we can do," she said.