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WCHI Pantry Garden Article - October, 2023
Contributed by Gwen Herzog, WCHI Pantry Garden Chair I am writing this article after another busy work night at the WCHI Pantry Garden. Tonight, we picked a bucket of string beans and several tomatoes. We then planted about 100 onion plants and approximately 30 parsley plants. I picked up the onion plants this morning from The Seed Farm located in Vera Cruz. Sam from TSF told me that if we planted them today, in 6 weeks we should be picking scallions for our guests. The parsley also came from TSF last week. We should be able to pick from these plants this fall and again next year. In addition to the parsley, two weeks ago and again last week we planted several varieties of cold tolerant greens, cabbage, and broccoli, all obtained from TSF. All are growing great! We should be able pick and pack greens for our food distributions in October. The cabbage and broccoli will take a little longer. Last week we planted a variety of herb plants also obtained from TSF. We cut, packed, and distributed dill to pantry guests. Two weeks ago and again last week we re-potted some basil plants from TSF and made them available to our guests at the pantry to grow on their windowsills. The take home plants were so popular that we ran out quickly. Our basil plant giveaway has gotten the attention of TSF and Second Harvest. Next year will reveal how they will grow our success. I want to thank all our community gardeners who have shared their bounty with us. Thanks to all of you, to date, 344.59 pounds of produce have been collected and shared with our WCHI guests and with other, local food pantries through Plant-A-Row. Remember, if you have extra garden produce or herbs you can share, please drop them to RE/MAX Unlimited Real Estate, 1080 Schadt Ave., Whitehall Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Please place items on the table on the right side of the vestibule. You may also call or text me at 610-379-6823 to make other arrangements for drop off or pick up. No amount is too large or too small. Don’t forget, as you empty those plants pre-frost, we can be an outlet for your smaller peppers and green tomatoes. Here is our year-to-date garden bounty: 373 zucchini, 225 yellow squash, 24 bags of radishes, 221 tomatoes, 179 peppers, 16 bags of red beets, 75 eggplants, 2 tote bags of parsley, 36 ears of corn, 11 bags of dill, and 9 bags of string beans. In my very first pantry garden article I wrote that the worst day for me, as a gardener, is putting the garden to bed just before the first frost. As the amount of daylight hours get shorter, I am reminded that the time for frost is near. It seems like just last month I couldn’t wait for that first tomato to ripen, but now, at times, I am overwhelmed with tomatoes that are cracked or have been nibbled by a critter or slug and must be tended to. By now, you have frozen tomato sauce, stuffed peppers, and string beans, you have shared your bounty with family, friends, and neighbors, and perhaps you have tried a new recipe, canned red beets, or made hot sauce with your garden’s bounty. These are the memories that will hopefully sustain you through the coming winter. Enjoy the final weeks of your summer garden, and if you are extending your garden with cool weather vegetables, I wish you a bounteous fall!
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I thought you may find this interesting and informative. It is a Press Release from Feeding America August 30, 2023 The Feeding America nationwide network of food banks is coming together this September for Hunger Action Month to inspire conversation and drive passion for the issue of hunger. The month-long campaign will highlight the impact of food on people's lives and show how a meal goes beyond solely nourishing our bodies. When people are fed, futures are nourished, and individuals go from just living to truly thriving. By joining the movement, Feeding America believes our collective voices, actions and commitment will help ensure every community has the food it needs to flourish. “Food has a tremendous impact on people’s lives. We have all experienced firsthand how a meal goes beyond solely nourishing our bodies,” said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America. “Access to nutritious food is essential for each of us to reach our full potential and reminds us that we can all help to create positive change in our communities to ensure that no one goes hungry in America. Now is the time for us to come together to elevate the voices of people who experience food insecurity and inspire everyone to join the movement to end hunger.” Everyone needs nutritious food to thrive, and in every community in America, people are working hard to provide for themselves and their families. Yet, Feeding America estimates approximately 1 in 6 people turned to charitable food assistance for additional support in 2022. A recent Feeding America survey found that 80% of network food banks reported either increased or steady demand for emergency food services in June 2023. This includes almost 35% of responding food banks reporting an increase in the number of people served. The vast majority are also reporting that food purchase costs are higher and food donations are down over the last four months. To support food banks and neighbors experiencing food insecurity, people across the country can get involved during Hunger Action Month by listening, acting and inviting others to speak up about ways to end hunger. Listening and Learning: Read and watch stories of people facing hunger. Learn about the impact hunger has on communities. Read the Elevating Voices to End Hunger Together report to learn about anti-hunger policy recommendations informed by neighbors facing hunger. Committing and Acting: Donate to a local food bank or Feeding America. Visit and volunteer at a local food bank. Wear orange throughout the month of September, or on Hunger Action Day on Friday, Sept. 15, to spread awareness and show commitment toward ending hunger. Speaking Up and Advocating: Sign our petition to members of Congress urging them to strengthen critical nutrition programs in the 2023 Farm Bill that help seniors, families, children, active military members and other people in communities across the country. Join the conversation and share support by posting photos or stories of advocacy to social media with #HungerActionMonth and @FeedingAmerica. On Hunger Action Day, Sept. 15, Feeding America will release the 2023 Elevating Voices to End Hunger Together: Insights Report, an annual, nationally representative snapshot of the experiences, concerns and ideas of people who had challenges putting food on the table. The report builds off last year’s foundational initiative to understand issues driving food insecurity and develop ideas for solutions to end hunger from the people most impacted by it. Hunger Action Month is a time for everyone across the country to collectively act against hunger. You can choose to donate or advocate. You can choose to volunteer or raise awareness. You can choose to help end hunger. Learn more about how you can take action by visiting HungerActionMonth.org . WCHI Pantry Garden Article – September 7, 2023
Contributed by Gwen Herzog, WCHI Pantry Garden Chair August has been a very full month at our WCHI Pantry Garden! Hot days, warm nights, and a good amount of rainfall have helped our plants continue to produce incredibly well. We have been routinely picking zucchini and yellow squash and until just the fourth week of August, they had not slowed down production. We were fortunate to be able to offer all August Pantry guests a variety of fresh Pantry Garden vegetables including zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, red beets, radishes, and parsley in addition to cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, and apples donated by our generous community gardeners. Combined with the produce boxes, lettuce, onions, lemons, and grapes we received from Second Harvest Food Bank, it was a cornucopia of fresh produce for all guests! We were also able to supply some of our Pantry Garden produce to WCHI’s community meal at the Whitehall Bible Fellowship Church and to other food pantries in our area. During our work night on August 1st, pantry garden neighbors, Walter and Stella, walked down for a visit. In addition to donating items grown in his garden, Walter brought cleaner and brushes and generously scrubbed the algae and mud from our shed while Stella, his dog, patrolled for groundhogs. Our shed looks brand new thanks to Walter! Thanks to Michael Agrippine and the Whitehall-Coplay Press for featuring our Pantry Garden in the August 17th edition. Mike stopped by the garden during a Tuesday work night to interview us and take photos, and I was pleasantly surprised to see us on pages one and two! I want to recognize and thank our amazing local gardeners who have generously donated their garden and orchard bounty! So far this year, with your generous donations, over 250 lbs. of fresh produce has been contributed to Lehigh Valley Plant-a-Row. Remember, our priority for donations is the WCHI Food Pantry and WCHI Free Community Meals, then other, local food pantries. Nothing goes to waste! Any amount of produce, large or small, is greatly appreciated. Please bring your donations to the vestibule at RE/MAX Unlimited, 1080 Schadt Ave., Whitehall, M-F 8:30 a.m.- 5 p.m. or call me at 610-379-6823 for other pick up or drop off accommodations. As I wrote in last month’s article, I was able to purchase broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, and turnips from The Seed Farm’s fall plant sale. These were planted in available beds in the Pantry Garden, and with some metal rabbit fence, the plants have remained untouched! On 8/28 The Seed Farm reached out to donate more plants and herbs to our garden, so at our work night on 8/29, we cleared out our zucchini and yellow squash beds to make room for arugula, kale, Swiss chard, cabbage, turnips, pac choi, bok choi, endive, basil, and dill. We expect to plant these at our work night on 9/5. With continued sun, heat, and rain and without critter interference, we should be able to offer Pantry Garden produce to our WCHI guests throughout the fall. Finally, my article would not be complete without sharing our fabulous year-to-date Pantry Garden yield of 373 zucchini, 222 yellow squash, 24 bags of radishes, 65 tomatoes, 95 peppers, 7 bags of red beets, 42 eggplants, and a tote bag full of parsley. I hope your gardens have been just as successful. Have a great month! I wanted to talk about our 2023 WCHI pantry attendance and the guests we serve. This is just a snapshot of three months this year. August numbers are not completed as of press time.
JAN APR JUL Youth 0-17 351 347 356 Adults 18-59 420 453 433 Seniors 60+ 195 192 190 Total people served 966 992 979 Food items 5 meals/person 4,830 4,960 4,895 Total Households 251 260 251 New household registrations 17 13 13 Please take notice of the number of children, adults, and seniors we help monthly. We are feeding almost 1,000 guests a month. Guests do not come every month for a myriad of reasons: illness, no transportation, changes to work schedules, obtained a new job, etc. We would serve well over 1,200 people if every registered guest would attend every month. Our Mission is to alleviate food insecurity in Whitehall and Coplay. We feel we do a great job but can always improve. WCHI is please to consistently register new food insecure households monthly. We are here to help. Please, if you know anyone who needs food in Whitehall and Coplay, please tell them to call us at 484-225-0358 to schedule a pantry appointment. We are open the 2nd and 3rd Thursdays every month from 9:30am-1pm and 4:30- 7 pm. We promptly close the doors at 1pm and 7 pm. Many households do not have transportation. One guest rides a bike 1 mile to our Pantry and is extremely limited on what he can bring home. If you have a neighbor, friend, or family member who does not have transportation, can you please make the time to bring them? Or if you know or suspect someone needs food, can you offer to help them? Food insecurity is blind. Not many people will raise their hand and say I am hungry or can you help me. Many people do not want people to know their situation, are afraid what someone will think about them, or they are ashamed to ask for help. No one should be hungry in this country. And NO ONE should be hungry here in Whitehall and Coplay. Besides our WCHI Pantry, guests can also attend Whitehall Food Pantry at St Stephens, 3900 Mechanicsville Rd. They are open Mondays 6:00- 8:00pm by appointment. Contact 484-246-5715. Also, for Coplay residents, the Coplay Food Pantry, in Coplay Boro Hall, 98 S 4th St is open the 2nd Tuesday every month from 8:30-10am. Please contact Jodi at 610.262.0928. Second Harvest Food Bank is a major source of our pantry food but has been having low inventory for several months now. They provide food to 200 agencies in 6 counites. WCHI provides food for each of our guests to have meals for five days. WCHI relies on the public to donate needed food items. Our guests either like to prepare cooked meals and others like to have ready to eat food like tuna, soup, canned ravioli, etc. WCHI appreciates ALL donations: individual or planned food drives. We request the following items: Boxes of Oatmeal, Boxed Potatoes, Canned Fruit (Low Sugar or Light Fruit Syrup), Canned Tuna, Cereal, Condiments (mayo, ketchup, mustard), Macaroni &Cheese, Jelly, Pancake Mix & Syrup, Pasta (all kinds: elbows, spaghetti, rigatoni, rotini, shells, etc), Rice 1lb bagged brown or white, Ready to Eat Items (Canned Ravioli, SpaghettiOs, etc), Any kind of Soups (Including: Creamed, Chunky, Chicken Noodle, Tomato, Vegetable, etc), Spaghetti Sauce, Stovetop Stuffing Mix. All food items above can be store brands. These food items can be shipped to or dropped at my Re/Max Unlimited office, 1080 Schadt Ave, Whitehall, PA 18052 M-F 8:30am -5pm. The office is closed on the weekends. Thank you and have a great week!! Upcoming September WCHI events to put on your calendars along with good food info at the end of this article.
FREE COMMUNITY MEALS - WCHI, the faith-based community, and others are proud to provide these FREE, hot, sit-down meals to low-income Whitehall-Coplay residents twice a month. All are welcome to attend both meals on the 1st Sunday and 3rd Tuesday each month from 4-6pm. Please attend and bring your family and friends. These meals are delicious!! Sunday, Sept 3rd - Muslim Association of the LV (MALV), 1988 Schadt Ave, Whitehall 703-346-8698 Tuesday, Sept 19th – Whitehall Active Community Center, 2301 Pine St, Whitehall 610-533-1357 Questions about hosting a meal for 2024 or a guest wanting more info, please contact Karen Haberern, Program Chair at 610-730-3184. BINGO – Sunday, Sept 10th Doors open at 1 and bingo starts at 2 pm at St Peter Roman Catholic Church, 4 S 5th St Coplay. Jackpot is $200. Play 15 Board games and 5 paper specials. BYO chips and dabbers. Food is available for purchase. All proceeds benefit WCHI. Please bring a food item for our Panty. Any kind of canned soup would be great!! For more info, contact Liz Rogers, Bingo Chair at 484-274-6687 FREE CLASSES “LEARN TO EAT HEALTHY ON A BUDGET” – Sign-Up now for these classes with Julie Davitt, Nutrition Education Adviser, at Penn State Extension, Allentown 484-857-2736 or jbd14@psu.edu Julie will teach the classes in partnership with WCHI in the white building behind our Pantry at 3024 S Ruch St, Whitehall. Classes run October 4th, 11th, 18th, and 25th from 10am- Noon. Topics include-Delicious Recipes; Smart Shopping; Meal Planning and Preparation; Food Safety; and Nutrition. Learn more at www.extension.psu.edu/nutrition-links Upon class completion, each participant will receive kitchen tools and a certificate of completion. WHO QUALIFIES FOR THIS PROGRAM? Parent or caregiver of children who qualify for free or reduced school lunch or WIC. Adults who qualify for SNAP, food pantry boxes/bags, and Pennsylvania farmers market vouchers. 12 Simple Ways to Increase Fruits, Vegetables and Beans/Legumes at Meals from FeedingPA.org
Needed Pantry items: Any kind of canned fruit, canned soups, canned low salt mixed vegetables, and any kind of pasta. Please deliver to my RE/MAX Unlimited office, 1080 Schadt Ave, Whitehall Monday-Friday 9am to 5 pm. I hope you found this week’s article informative and interesting. Have a great week!! I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our selfless volunteers who helped WCHI with our June 8th and 15th food distributions. WCHI is feeding close to 1,000 people a month. We did not have enough manpower to help on these two dates due to many dedicated volunteers being on vacation. I extended an invitation for help, and we had more than enough volunteers to help us this month. WCHI is 100% Volunteer and has a 501C3 Public Charity status with the IRS. THANK YOU again to all our dedicated volunteers!!
WCHI always can use more volunteers who can help during Pantry Distributions or other times throughout the month usually on Wednesday mornings. We can also use help at our WCHI Garden. State mandated clearances are required for volunteers 18+ years old. If you are a Catholic Parishioner, additional read and sign forms are required. Children and youth 12-17 can volunteer with parent acknowledgement with a read and sign form. Please go to https://tinyurl.com/WCHIforms to review the necessary forms and requirements. I would encourage more people to join us by attaining these clearances. They are valid for 5 years once obtained. WE all get along and are like one big family!! There are a lot of behind-the-scenes activities that occur throughout the month i.e. 1. ordering and picking up food from Second Harvest Food Bank; 2. Purchasing food and toiletries from several local stores; 3. Loading our vehicles with the products and bringing them back to the Pantry; 4. These items then get carried by hand into the pantry and put on rolling racks and sent to their dedicated areas in the Pantry; 5. These items are loaded onto skids or rolling racks and marked State and USDA Food or general donations from the public; 6. Then the inventory is stocked on appropriate racks for our Pantry guests to choose from during distribution days. On distribution days, our volunteers do specific jobs including: 1. Welcoming our guests as they arrive; 2. Registering our guests; 3. Shopping with our guests throughout the Pantry; 4. Providing produce boxes and any additional produce, when available; 5. Providing dog and cat food when available; and 6. Unloading the bagged or boxed items from our shopping carts into our guests’ cars. WCHI’s Panty Choice Racks include: canned fruit; canned vegetables; protein (canned salmon, tuna, & chicken when available, a good selection of canned beans, and peanut butter); rice and pasta; cereal; grains like oatmeal and mac&cheese; ready to eat foods like canned/jar sauces, bagged chili, and soups; snacks; condiments; baby food and diapers; coffee (ground, whole bean and K-Cups when available); adult diapers, feminine products; toiletries: toilet paper, tissues and other items like toothpaste, when available; frozen food and refrigerated food like milk, cheese, and eggs when available; and 10 lb produce boxes plus bagged fruit; and dog/cat food when available. WCHI orders, receives, and distributes approximately 14,000- 18,000 pounds of food a month from Second Harvest Food Bank. We also get 2,700 pounds a month of fresh -10-pound produce boxes (June’s box included bagged onions, loose sweet potatoes, a squash, and a pineapple) and additional other fresh produce like bagged tangerine when available. With the current economy the available items have decreased from 250 a year ago to about 105 today. In May, Meals on Wheels of the Greater Lehigh Valley hosted a huge food donation event at their location specifically for WCHI. We were on site and received 2,000 pounds of food that day. Taylor Villas, a 55+ housing subdivision in Whitehall, also hosts several food drives for us, as does Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church in Egypt. All this donated food has been distributed in June. And just this week, WCHI received approximately 2,000 pounds of assorted canned beans from Catasauqua School District that was donated to them. We are extremely grateful for all the public support!! We currently need: canned fruit (not cups); small and large cans of tuna; cereal; mac& cheese; and any kind of pasta. Please note: a local store manager said the store brands are the same as the major names. Most are the same food; they are just packaged with the local store name. These are usually much cheaper, and we accept any donation. Monetary donations are also appreciated since we do purchase needed items. Please make your check payable to WCHI and write food in the memo section. Food and monetary donations can be dropped, mailed or shipped to WCHI-Shari Noctor, at my RE/Max Unlimited office, 1080 Schadt Ave, Whitehall, PA 18052. The office is open Monday-Friday 9-5 and is now closed on the weekends. Also, WCHI is part of Plant a Row Lehigh Valley. If you have additional vegetables you are growing in your garden or would like to donate a plant or two, these can be put on the table in my foyer. We will give these vegetables to our guests at our Pantry distributions and at our two monthly Free Community Meals. If the vegetables are donated at other times of the month, Gwen Herzog, our Garden Chair and Plant a Row Representative, will add the plants to our garden and will make sure the fresh vegetables are given to low-income people who will use them. THANK YOU ALL and have a Great week!!I I wanted to write this week’s article on Volunteerism. A heartfelt THANK YOU is extended to every one of our selfless volunteers, who help in so many ways to feed the food insecure residents of Whitehall and Coplay. I also want to thank the volunteers, who are not normally scheduled for distribution days, who helped while others were on vacation this summer. With everyone’s time and talents, our WCHI volunteers are feeding almost 1,000 residents a month. As our Pantry guest attendance continues to grow, we truly need many more volunteers to help WCHI both behind the scenes and during pantry day distributions.
There are a lot of behind-the-scenes activities that occur throughout the month i.e. 1. ordering and picking up food from Second Harvest Food Bank; 2. Purchasing food and toiletries from several local stores; 3. Loading our vehicles with the products and bringing them back to the Pantry; 4. These items then get carried by hand into the pantry and put on rolling racks and sent to their dedicated areas in the Pantry; 5. These items are loaded onto skids or rolling racks and marked State and USDA Food or general donations from the public; 6. Then the inventory is stocked on appropriate racks for our Pantry guests to choose from during distribution days. On distribution days, our volunteers do specific jobs including: 1. Welcoming our guests as they arrive; 2. Registering our guests; 3. Shopping with our guests throughout the Pantry; 4. Providing fresh produce from our WCHI Garden; along with any produce available from both Second Harvest Food Bank and grown by Whitehall and Coplay residents in their personal gardens; 5. Providing dog and cat food when available; and 6. Unloading the bagged or boxed items from our shopping carts into our guests’ cars. WCHI is extremely fortunate to have dedicated volunteers. Some are retired; some work and help when they can; and others work during the day and hep in the evening on distribution days. We have teachers and others from several school districts, that help us over the summer while school is closed. Several volunteers are students aged 12-17. And some of our pantry guests are working on their clearances to help us, too. “Volunteering is important for many reasons including stress reduction, combating depression and providing a sense of purpose. It offers essential help to worthwhile causes, people in need, and the wider community. Volunteerism is also important because it helps eliminate poverty and improve basic health and education.” Calvin Holbrook https://tinyurl.com/5dyk8xsu WCHI is a 100% volunteer based 501c3 Non -Profit Charity. No one receives a salary. Can you or someone you know volunteer with us? You will love your fellow volunteers. Because we do work with children, we are all required by the State to obtain full child abuse clearances. Please go to https://tinyurl.com/32cndjdw to find out more. Do not let the list intimidate you. Many are read and sign forms. We do reimburse for fingerprinting. I have completed the clearances in less than two weeks, and I have a full-time job. There is no time frame limit for completion, but all clearances must be received so we can email you volunteer opportunities. Once we have everything, the clearances are good for five years. Students, 12-17 years old, just need to read and sign a code of conduct form and a WCHI form signed by a parent. WCHI does have school clubs help us and individual students also. We do sign school forms for community service hours. Please email, Sylvia Lee, our Volunteer Chair at Volunteerme.Lee@gmail.com with any questions you may have. WCHI needs the following food items: Any kind of boxed pasta; macaroni and cheese; chicken noodle, tomato, and vegetable soups; and low salt canned mixed vegetables. Fresh Produce is also appreciated from your personal gardens. These items can be dropped or shipped to Shari Noctor, Re/Max Unlimited, 1080 Schadt Ave, Whitehall, PA 18052. My office is open for deliveries Monday-Friday 9am to 5pm and is closed on the weekends. Thank you and have a great week!! 8/3/23 Pantry Garden article Contributed by Gwen Herzog, WCHI Pantry Garden Chair
What do you get when you combine sunny, hot days, warm nights, ample rain, great soil, well-established plants, and a great group of volunteers? You get one rocking garden! I am writing this article on July 27th and this week we were able to pick 47 zucchini, 22 yellow squash, 28 bell peppers, and 6 tomatoes. Our zucchini and yellow squash beds are really loaded up with plants and wow – they keep producing and producing. Even with all we picked in July, there is a constant supply of new growth which means a constant supply of new vegetables to pick. I’m not going to lie, when we were planting the seeds, I did drop 3-5 seeds in each hole I dug, so there are lots and lots of plants in each bed. So many that it can sometimes be a challenge to monitor and get in there to pick. I also think that from the time I arrive at the garden to cut the grass and when I get ready to leave, the zucchini have grown larger! I know this is not likely the case, but I’m sticking to my story. At the beginning of July, a large quantity of tomato plants in pots were dropped to Shari Noctor’s office. We promptly planted them in a portion of our “U” bed, caged, and watered them. While they are a little smaller than the rest of the tomato plants, they are growing well and about to flower. Thank you to our mystery donor for this great gift! As you know, with any vegetable garden there will be issues. After treating our eggplants for flea beetles, we are now seeing lots of flowers and a few small eggplants. The groundhogs have also seen the small eggplants and have taken a few bites, so this bed was fenced. In early July the leaves of our pepper plants started getting eaten prompting treatment, but pepper production has not been impacted. While it has been exciting to see some of our early tomatoes change color, the groundhogs have been eating the change. The tomato bed has therefore been fenced but it is not fully deterring these determined critters, so more aggressive action will have to be taken. As I mentioned in my last two articles, WCHI is a Lehigh Valley Plant-A-Row drop off center. If our pantry cannot give away donated produce through our monthly food distribution or at our free community meals, it will be shared with another food pantry. On July 24th we donated 18.1 pounds of vegetables we grew at our WCHI garden along with donations to the food pantry at St. Stephen’s Church. Don’t forget, any extra produce you grow will help to feed a food insecure household when you donate it to WCHI and Lehigh Valley Plant-A-Row. Call or text me at 610-379-6823 to arrange for pick up or you may drop it at Re/Max Unlimited Real Estate at 1080 Schadt Ave, Whitehall M-F 9 am– 5 pm. Although it is hot outside, we are planning our fall weather crops. Our plan is to get winter squash seeds into the ground very soon and try again to grow some cabbage and cauliflower. We plan to purchase some plants from The Seed Farm in Emmaus. Located at 5854 Vera Cruz Road, The Seed Farm will be holding their fall plant sale Saturday, August 12th and Sunday, August 13th. A partner of Second Harvest, plants are grown using organic practices. Why not try some fall crops in your own garden? We always need help to weed, water, plant, harvest, and control ground hogs. Please join us at the Mickley-Prydun Farm at 3540 South Ruch Street, Whitehall on Tuesday evenings at 6 p.m. We love having visitors! In case you were wondering, here is our year-to-date harvested vegetable tally: 129 zucchini, 80 yellow squash, 21 bags of radishes, 15 tomatoes, and 28 bell peppers. Happy Gardening! July 31st is National Avocado Day. WCHI offered frozen avocados to our Pantry Guests at both our July 13th and July 20th food distributions.
From FeedingPA - “Avocados are known for their "good" fats. Monosaturated fat, the main type of fat in avocado, can help reduce LDL (bad) cholesterol levels in the blood which may help lower the risk of heart disease and stroke. If you're a little unsure about giving avocado a try, consider adding some to a smoothie. It brings a delicious creaminess without an overpowering flavor. How to Cut an Avocado. You will need 1 avocado, a cutting board, a sharp knife, and a spoon is optional.
Below “The History timeline and more info on avocados from https://nationaltoday.com/national-avocado-day/ 8000 BC - Avocados eaten in Mexico. Archaeologists have found evidence that wild avocados were gathered and eaten in central Mexico. 3000 BC - Avocado trees grown. Researchers believe that Mesoamerican tribes like the Inca, the Olmec and the Maya grew domesticated avocado trees. 1696 - The avocado is named. Naturalist, Sir Hans Sloane, names “the avocado or alligator pear-tree" in his catalog of Jamaican plants. 1833 - Welcome to the U.S. Horticulturist, Henry Perrine, first plants avocados in Florida. 1950s - Into the mainstream. Avocados become commercially available in the U.S., with people mostly adding them to salads. WHY WE LOVE NATIONAL AVOCADO DAY They're extremely healthy. Avocados played a huge role in the health food revival in the U.S. a generation ago and for good reason. They're packed with potassium to keep your blood pressure lower, oleic acid for reducing inflammation, fiber for your metabolism and antioxidants that keep your eyes healthy. They're incredibly versatile in the kitchen. Avocados are nothing if not a culinary imagination booster! We're not just talking guacamole and toast. You can use them as a base for salad dressing, chilled soup, ice cream, pudding, pasta sauce, bread and lots more. 5 TASTY FACTS ABOUT AVOCADOS 1. Super treat -Football fans consume 53.5 million pounds of guacamole on Super Bowl Sundays. 2. Berry good - Because it's a fleshy fruit produced from a single ovary, an avocado is actually a berry. 3. They're #1 - Avocados contain the most protein and fiber of any fruit. 4. Count 'em -There are 1,062 varieties of avocado. 5. Gator guac - In Jamaica, avocados were once called "alligator pears.” I hope you enjoyed this article. Have a great week!! UNDERSTANDING DATES ON FOOD PACKAGING
Second Harvest Food Bank selected WCHI to be one of four Healthy Pantries in Lehigh County, which offers healthier low fat and low salt products, when possible. WCHI obtains a lot of great information from both Second Harvest and PA Healthy Pantry Initiative (PA HPI), which is a project of Feeding America. I wanted to provide “Date Facts” since consumers get confused what the date on food products means. Baby formula only (not baby food) needs to be thrown out and not fed to a baby after its “Use-By” date, because at that time there is no more nutritional value left in the product. The information below comes directly from Feeding America - Resources for Pantries. “Product dating is not required by federal regulations except on infant formula. Dates are provided to help stores and people know when food is of the best quality. However, the dates are not indicators of the food’s safety. Understanding the dates can reduce throwing away perfectly good food. There are many different dates that can be found on food packaging. Here are some examples:
How can you tell if a food is safe to eat? If handled properly, a product should still be safe and wholesome even if the package date is passed during storage.
I hope you found this info helpful. I will be providing more interesting topics from Feeding America, Feeding PA, and Second Harvest Food Bank in future articles. WCHI requests the following food items for our Food Pantry: Canned fruit, any kind of boxed pasta, and condiments such as salad dressings, ketchup, mayo, relish, and pickles. Right now, we have enough mustard. Also. If anyone has an overabundance of home-grown vegetables and/or spices, they also can be dropped off to my ReE/Max Unlimited office, 1080 Schadt Ave, Whitehall Monday-Friday 9am-5pm. Thank you and have a great week!! |
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