The Let Us Share the Harvest (LUSH) Valley Food Action Society’s mobile community cooler has been fully functional since mid-August and is now parked for everyone to see in the Wachiay Friendship Centre parking lot at 1625B McPhee Ave. The unit will allow for greater distribution of healthy local fruits and vegetables to people who need it the most and will help ensure that less of the bounty of this region goes to waste. The timing is perfect, as this year’s apple harvest is just beginning.
“We are so grateful to Comox Valley Community Foundation for funding this initiative, and to Wachiay Friendship Centre for providing us space,” said LUSH Valley executive director, Maurita Prato. “A very special thanks goes to superstar volunteer Gord Tooker, who donated hundreds of hours to the project.”
“I am a long time supporter and volunteer of LUSH Valley and their Fruit Tree
Program”, said Gord. “I worked hard to get this cooler up and running, now we just need the fruit to come in!”
By this time last year the LUSH Valley Fruit Tree Program had harvested 21,604 pounds of local fruit and vegetables, by comparison this year only 1,600 lb have been harvested.
“It’s been a weird year” said James McKerricher, Fruit Tree Program co-ordinator. “Mother Nature has gone through a difficult winter, and we are seeing the results of poor pollination in this year’s fruit supply. What we really need is more people with fruit trees to contact us, so we can get the fruit distributed to people who need it.”
LUSH Valley’s Fruit Tree Program organizes teams of volunteers to go and pick fruit and vegetables from properties across the Comox Valley. The produce is then distributed three ways: a third to homeowners, a third to volunteers and a third to social services clients.
“This poor fruit year reminds us that our local food system is vulnerable and that we need to continue to pull together as a community to ensure that those struggling with food insecurity have access to healthy local food,” said Prato. “Our collective work towards resilient local food systems is becoming increasingly important.”
If you have extra fruit or veggies to share please contact McKerricher at fruit@lushvalley.org or 250- 331-0152.
To find out more about LUSH Valley Food Action Society visit www.lushvalley.org