Hot, dry weather has hit the Ottawa Food Bank's production of local produce.
The yield is down probably 20% and that will hit the food bank's bottom line. Half of what the Food Bank distributes in its hampers is fresh: meat, dairy and lots of local produce.
But the drought this summer has hit farmers hard and consequently the food bank, too.
It is harvest time on the eight acres of land in the west end of Ottawa, donated by local farmer Tom Black to the Ottawa Food Bank to grow a bounty of produce.
“The bulk of fresh food we are delivering comes from here,” says Michael Maidment, the Executive Director of the Ottawa Food Bank at the Black’s family farm.
Last year, the Food Bank pulled off more than 100-thousand pounds of produce from the Black’s farm, everything from tomatoes to peppers, zucchinis to kale and squash to potatoes. But a hot, dry summer has hurt the yield this year. Total produce is down probably twenty percent.
We're feeding forty-five thousand people a month,” says Maidment, “so if produce is down 20%, that's going to really make a difference. The simple fact is that there will not be as much produce coming in and our clients may have to rely on more nonperishable food.”
Tomatoes and peppers have thrived in this weather but it is the potatoes and cucumbers that are hurting.
So, too, are the melons; they've been attacked by wild turkeys in search of moisture.
“They started in the honey dew,” says Jason Gray, the Community Harvest coordinator for the Food Bank, “then went after our watermelons and now our cantaloupe. We probably lost 100 melons in total.”
But what is there needs to be harvested and it requires lots of volunteers. Today, Ottawa councillor Keith Egli organized the first Harvest for the Hungry at the Black’s farm, bringing along fellow councillors to get “down and dirty.”
“Not everybody has to write a cheque or even can,” says Egli, “but everybody can give a couple hours to the community and do something different, something a little bit fun.”
“This is a great way to put sweat equity behind what we do at city hall,” says councillor Mark Taylor, as he kneels in the dirt, picking up potatoes, “and come out and do some of the heavy lifting.”
The Food Bank says it will know in the next couple of weeks what the shortfall will be and then decide how to fill that gap; whether its redirecting funds or reaching out to the public for help.
Other farmers help provide fresh produce for the Food Bank but the problem this year is that they are in the same situation. The drought has affected their yield this year, too.
