Spotswood food pantry seeking gardeners' help

SPOTSWOOD — A local food pantry will now be able to offer its clients produce from home gardeners.

CUP (Churches United for People) Food Pantry, which is housed at Woodmere Senior Citizen Housing, Crescent Avenue, recently joined the AmpleHarvest.org campaign, a nationwide effort to encourage local backyard gardeners to share their excess garden bounty with neighbors in need.

Until now, the CUP Food Pantry, founded in 2005 by the Community of Hope Ministries at St. Peter's Episcopal Church, Main Street, has received most of its supplies from regional food banks, government programs and neighborhood donations. However, those sources generally do not include fresh produce because of distribution and storage issues. Clients often only have access to canned vegetables and fruit.

Ted Foley, board president for Community of Hope Ministries, said the connection with AmpleHarvest.org is important.

"While the food bank of New Jersey is able to provide us with quite a bit of our grocery needs, they do not provide fresh produce, which puts our clients at risk for proper nutrition," Foley said. "This will also be another way to connect the community at large with those in need."

The CUP Food Pantry, which is open three days per week every week, is staffed by volunteers, many of whom are seniors. It provides a unique service, even for a food pantry.

"A key aspect of our pantry is that our clients can 'shop' for their own food," Foley said. "While there are limits on certain items, the clients have the ability to choose the items that suit their needs and tastes. Although it may not be the most efficient system, we find that this provides a greater sense of dignity than other systems where the clients are handed a prepacked grocery bag."

Demand at CUP has increased sharply in recent years, he said.

"About five years ago, CUP was only serving a handful of families. It has now grown into a significant service to Spotswood and the surrounding communities," Foley said. Nationwide, one out of eight American families now relies on pantries to help feed them, and many pantries are having a hard time meeting the demand.

At the same time, millions of backyard gardeners across America frequently find that their vegetable and fruit gardens provide far more produce than they can possibly use or share with friends. The remainder is often either left to rot in the garden or put into the trash, which produces methane, a globalwarming gas, as it decomposes.

Gardeners who want to share part of their harvest are often unable to find local pantries because they typically don't have yellow page listings or an Internet presence. By registering with AmpleHarvest.org, food pantries such as CUP can now connect with gardeners and provide them with information on where and when their fresh produce can be dropped off.

"Two years ago, my own garden grew more produce than we could possibly use, and I quickly found that there are only so many cucumbers you can give to friends and still have them call you a friend," said AmpleHarvest. org founder Gary Oppenheimer. "Our community garden also left a lot of produce to rot on the vines. When I searched on the Internet for pantries, the nearest one listed was 25 miles away, even though my own town has five. That was when it became clear that AmpleHarvest. org was desperately needed."

CUP is now seeking fresh produce donations for its clients. Additionally, the pantry will occasionally post information on the website listing those store-bought items that are in short supply, in order to enable anyone wishing to help local people in need.

For more information about the food pantry or the gardeners program, visit www.stpetersspotswood.org/cdc.htm or www.AmpleHarvest.org.

The CUP Food Pantry is also currently in need of a volunteer to oversee its operation. Because of the increased use of the pantry, its resources are running thin, according to Foley. The board is looking for someone to donate about six hours a week to keep the operation running and the food flowing to those in need, he said. Anyone interested should call 732- 967-4883 and speak to Executive Director Alice Ryan.