The quest to help growers share good but unmarketable produce
with those in need.
By Barbara Wunder, FFVA communications manager
Dr. Chip Hinton (at left) is first and foremost an agriculturalist.
The former long-time executive director of the Florida Strawberry
Growers Association also served as president of the Florida Agricultural
Hall of Fame Foundation and the Agricultural Advisory Committee of
the Southwest Florida Water Management District. Now he’s
taken on the role of helping others in the industry share wholesome
fruits and vegetables with Floridians suffering from tough times.
Hinton serves as a consultant to the Florida Association of Food
Banks. His formal title is director of resource development, but he says
he’s more a jack-of-all-trades, with an emphasis on forming
connections with the agriculture community and opening doors between the
producers and the food banks.
“I got involved in this effort as any agriculturist would,”
said Hinton. “You see so much produce that’s just rotting in
the field because the market has dissolved for some reason, and
there’s no way you can justify harvesting the product. I’ve
always thought that was such a waste.”
Hinton’s goal is to create a win-win situation for both
farmers and food banks, providing assistance so that the farmer will be
able to harvest that un-marketable crop for the benefit of those in
need. “The reason growers don’t harvest that food is
that they can’t afford the labor. So what I initially thought is
that I might be able to work with a bona-fide food bank system and see
if I can’t come up with a way we can get the growers connected
with the food banks and find a way to resolve that particular
situation,” Hinton said.
Committed to providing a safety net
The Florida Association of Food Banks is a 501(c)(3) organization
committed to making sure that families needing food can get it in a
dignified manner. It serves as a true safety net for those who fall on
difficult times -- often people whom you may not think of as
needing help. The association boasts 16 food banks that serve all
67 of Florida’s counties.
FAFB is the Florida affiliate of
Feeding America, formerly America’s Second
Harvest, a nationally recognized food distribution system with 206
member food banks throughout the country. FAFB, through Florida’s
member food banks, works with supermarket chains and other suppliers to
distribute food to about 3,000 faith-based and non-profit agencies.
“FAFB distributed more than 72 million pounds of product last
year,” said Hinton. “Of course, the food banks themselves
don’t actually feed anyone. What they do is provide the food for
those organizations on the front line who do feed individuals and
families.” Those groups range from neighborhood church groups to
large entities like the Salvation Army and the Red Cross. The food banks
are also involved with disaster assistance.
The perishable problem
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One of Hinton's goals is to provide necessary infrastructure so that
fresh produce arrives in a timely manner to those who need
it.
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Getting peanut butter and cans of tuna to the hungry is complicated
enough. Providing fresh fruits and vegetables presents even greater
challenges. “The one area we have had difficulties with is
perishable commodities,” said Hinton. “We don’t have
the infrastructure necessary to get it out of the fields, keep it cool,
and distribute it while it’s still fresh.” Hinton says that
he would like to roll out a plan based on one already in effect in
Ohio
that earmarked a portion of its initial funding for infrastructure like
refrigeration. “The Ohio people worked out a system to
help smaller agencies like some of the church groups so that they could
have refrigerators to store perishables. So after two or three years,
they met those needs and were able to devote their attention more and
more to the commodity support itself,” said Hinton.
That takes money.
But Hinton says Florida has two things going for it.
“Number one, we produce 60 percent of the nation’s winter
fruits and vegetables. There’s a tremendous quantity of product.
And two, the operative word being winter fruits and vegetables, which
means we have a niche to allow us to meet some major needs, first in the
state of Florida, but also if the infrastructure and quantity hold out,
we can feed America,” Hinton said. He calls his project
“Feeding Florida First,” which he says fits in very closely
with the national organization’s next goal, feeding
America.
Funding can make it happen
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Maintaining perishables at the proper temperature is
imperative.
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Hinton has been working with a consortium of growers and agricultural
associations to address the challenges of finding a way to bring the
growers and the food banks together. “I met with them and came up
with an endorsement from virtually everyone,” Hinton said. The
agriculture industry has stood behind his efforts and is willing to
assist with solving problems that stand in the way. “One of our
biggest challenges is the current economy. That makes it difficult to
find state or federal dollars to provide an incentive for growers to get
involved,” Hinton said. “We’re trying to decide if it
would be feasible for us to work with the Legislature during the session
that’s coming up this spring. We’d like to not only help the
growers with the cost of labor, but also with any processing
that’s required and so forth.”
Federal funding is also a possibility. Opportunities exist through
the farm bill. “We’re trying to see how we can fold some of
our plans into the new programs that could be initiated through the farm
bill. The agriculture industry has worked hard to secure funding for
marketing and for research and development. If there was a way to
dovetail our efforts with the ag community's priorities, that would be
ideal,” Hinton said, adding that the likely funding scenario would
be a combination of state and federal assistance.
Hinton hopes that if that funding materializes, he’ll initially
be able to take small steps toward his goals. “We’re not
trying to do the whole thing at once. We’re trying to come up with
a blueprint - a pilot program where we can start with maybe 15 or
20 counties in the heart of the fruit and vegetable production regions.
We can expand from there,” he said.
Oppotunities exist for growers right now
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A food bank worker unloads contributions.
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As part of the Obama administration's effort to jump-start the economy,
a program was recently enacted into law that, in order to encourage food
donations, any grower who made a donation of product to a legitimate
501(c)(3) organization would receive a tax break. “That grower
would be reimbursed not only for the cost of production, which they
could write off anyway, but also for half of the anticipated product
profit,” said Hinton. “It’s good until December 31,
2009, and could very well be renewed.”
The so-called "good samaritan" legislation also works in the
producer’s favor. First passed at the federal level in 1996, it
was made even more specific to farmers at the state level in 2006, when
it gives very specific indemnification for growers who in good faith
donate food to charitable organizations. “It specifically exempts
them from liability – that is, if anything happens to the people
who are harvesting or if any of the product itself is
deleterious,” Hinton said.
Well worth the trouble
In spite of the challenges facing him, Hinton is determined. His
goal, he says, is simple – to bring to the hungry the wholesome
product that might otherwise sit neglected in the field, product
that has nothing wrong with it other than the fact that the market is
such that it’s not economically feasible to harvest.
“Challenging is the word for this, but if it’s worth
doing, that’s not a problem,” said Hinton. “This is
right up there with apple pie and baseball. Feeding the hungry –
if you have trouble falling asleep at night because you’re trying
to do that, it’s not because you’re questioning what
you’re trying to do. It’s because you’re so excited
about what you’re trying to accomplish.”
Visit the Florida Association of Food Banks’ Web site to
learn more or call (850)
224-0711.
