On Sunday nights, fresh fruits and vegetables that weren’t sold at the Oradell Farmer’s Market were going right into the garbage bin.
When Thomas Kelly, a former borough councilman who helps out at the market, saw what was going on, the solution was obvious: why not send the fresh food to those in need instead?
The solution orchestrated by Kelly and other volunteers sent the market’s left over produce to the Parkside Community Church food pantry in nearby Westwood. The partnership, which started this fall, ensured clients at the pantry got access to fresh food and not just cans and boxes of non-perishable supplies.
“It’s perfect that only a day later, it’s going out to people’s tables,” said Kelly.
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The collaboration grew out of connections at the Rotary Club of Oradell-Emerson, where Kelly is president and Lisa Bontemps, the church’s food pantry coordinator, is also a member. Volunteers, including students from River Dell High School, took whatever perishable stock remained after the market at Veldran Avenue closed at 3:45 pm on Sunday and sent it north with the help of Westwood Regional High School students to the pantry on Fourth Avenue in Westwood . The produce can vary each week from nectarines to spinach and bok choy.
“We noticed that a lot of produce was going into the trash,” said Kelly. It’s been a great example of community people helping each other out. It’s been really powerful to see that and something we’ve been proud of.”
It was the first time the pantry had worked with a farmer’s market to get fresh food. Although the market is closed for the season around Thanksgiving, both organizations are looking forward to continuing the partnership next year. The Oradell market may open in spring instead of summer to get an early start on continuing donations, Kelly said.
Spring House Farms owner Kurt Poehler, the farmer who supplies fruits and vegetables to the market, was on board to start the partnership with Parkside Community Church. He’d already helped steer leftovers from a farmer’s market in Red Bank to Food Not Bombs, a volunteer group that distributes surplus food to the community.
One of the Parkside pantry’s beneficiaries is the Westwood House, which provides low-income senior housing. But the service is open to anyone who needs food from Westwood and surrounding towns. The amount of produce available can vary each week from 50 to 200 pounds depending on the time of the season. That helps feed up to 50 to 60 families, covering perhaps 250 people or more, said Bontemps.
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“We’ve been really fortunate to get some lovely stuff,” she said.
Instead of handing out boxes with pre-sorted food, the pantry allows clients to “shop” the shelves as one would do in a grocery store and pick out the items they need.
With the Oradell donations, “they’re even more thrilled since they’re getting some really good, quality stuff,” Bontemps said.
Parkside Community Church runs a full-service weekly food pantry, getting other donations from Table to Table, a community-based food rescue program, and grocery stores such as Wegman’s and Whole Foods.
When additional food was available, Oradell volunteers also shipped food to programs run by Westwood’s United Methodist Church and Mount Zion Baptist Church, which do monthly distributions. Food was also sent to Englewood and Paterson pantries.
“We can give them potatoes and apples and things that don’t have quite the same spoilage rate than say some of the leafy greens might,” said Bontemps. “We try to share as much as we can to feed as many people as possible and have as little waste as possible.”
Usually, when food pantries receive fruits and vegetables from grocery stores, it’s food that is still healthy and safe to eat, but could be near the “best if used by” date. The farmer’s market produce, however, is very fresh by comparison.
Kelly said he hopes the program will encourage other farmer’s markets to connect with local pantries.
“There’s a need out there,” he said.
Stephanie Noda is a local reporter for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to the most important news from your local community, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
Email: noda@northjersey.com
Twitter: @snoda11