Williams: Farmers Key To The Missing At 2nd Harvest

March is National Ag Month.  To mark the occasion, 2nd Harvest, which provides food to food banks across the Inland Northwest, is touting its relationship with the local farming community.  Eric Williams is the Community Partnership Director at 2nd Harvest.

"We say it's the first harvest that makes a second harvest possible.  A little over a third of our food that we distribute comes directly from farmers.  Farmers throughout the state particularly, eastern and central Washington, are really generous.  And it if not for them we wouldn't be able to provide the food that we are.”

Williams added with food prices climbing very rapidly throughout most of 2022, their member foodbanks were stretched, so donations for the farming community were even more important.  Williams is stressing they still need assistance from the farming community, after Mother Nature resulted in a smaller harvest across many commodities last year.

“Right now, we're at about 2/3 are normal amounts of food.  In a normal given week we have about 18 semi loads come in and out our doors.  That's down by about a third.  A couple of the other partner food banks in the state say that they're down up to 80% on their on their food.  So [the smaller harvest] has had a huge effect.”

Click Here to learn more about 2nd Harvest, or to donate.

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