We are fortunate at the ACCA food pantry to be able to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to our clients. We often receive citrus fruit from the Lions Club, along with other fruit from our partnership with Whole Foods. We have a garden plot in front of the pantry and also receive donations from the local farmers’ markets in the summer. Local home gardeners are also welcome to bring their excess produce to the pantry for distribution. We have even provided beautiful flowers from our garden to families with the groceries.
The fruits and vegetables that we receive are welcome additions to the groceries that we deliver to local families. They help to provide a balanced diet when fresh produce has become very expensive.
Fresh fruit is a pretty perfect snack. It’s natural, so there isn’t any waste that can’t be composted, except for a grocer’s barcoded sticker. Otherwise, it’s grab-and-go nutrition. And there’s not just an alphabet of fruit that would be good in any lunchbox- apple, banana, grapes, orange, plum—there are also many fresh vegetables that please the palate. Don’t forget carrots, celery, and cucumbers. They are portable and versatile. They are tasty by themselves or as an ingredient in a main dish.
A recipe that salutes the season and takes just a few ingredients is Pasta Primavera. As a fun piece of trivia, the word spring in both Spanish and Italian is primavera. But this dish is for everyone, particularly now that pasta comes in gluten-free varieties. A quick search on the web will yield lots of recipes for Pasta Primavera, but essentially, there are three steps: boil, chop, and drizzle. Prepare (boil or microwave) your choice of pasta per the packaging. Choose fresh or frozen vegetables you like, perhaps broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms, tomatoes, and peas. Chop them if they aren’t already in bite-size pieces. Drizzle with olive oil or another binder after seasoning to taste. Recipes are easily found online or at the library, or maybe you have one in a family archive. This meal is flavorful at springtime but also throughout the year.
Right now, ACCA’s garden is being tended to share the bounty later in the season. Expect some tomatoes, green peppers, cucumbers, basil, and maybe even sweet potatoes.
Also in the shadow of ACCA’s Child Development Center is a community garden managed by Hands on Harvest. Volunteers bring unsold produce and donations from the community from local farmers’ markets (Mason District and Wakefield) to our food pantry, making it possible to distribute fresh goods.
If you are a home gardener and have more produce than you can use this summer, ACCA’s food pantry would gratefully accept your donation this summer. Feel free to drop off your produce at the pantry at 7200 Columbia Pike (white trailer to the west of the Child Development Center) on Tuesday-Friday afternoons between 1:30 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. or contact us at pantry@accacares.org.
Your green thumb would get a thumbs-up from us!
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