Cherry trees in the area are now ripe with fruit, apricot trees won’t be far behind, and vegetable gardens will — with a little help from Mother Nature and some warmer weather — soon be producing their bounty.
The Equality Project in Cache Creek is hoping to make use of some of the excess produce that might otherwise go to waste by starting a gleaning program. Every year the Project receives inquiries from Cache Creek residents — many of them seniors — who are looking for someone to glean their gardens when they are unable to. The program would be a win-win, with gleaners leaving some of the produce with the homeowner and taking the balance back to The Equality Project for use and distribution there.
Funding for the project has been provided by the Community Food Action Initiative, in cooperation with Interior Health.
In addition to the gleaning element, there will also be preservation workshops that show people how to preserve fresh fruits and vegetables, and help keep uneaten food out of the waste stream.
As the only social resource in Cache Creek, one of The Equality Project’s missions is to provide people in need with wholesome food. The volunteers regularly take excess fresh produce and either distribute it while it’s still fresh, make simple meals with it, or preserve it for future use.
The climate in the area is conducive to great gardening, and the gleaning program and preservation workshops aim to reduce the risk of nutrition insufficiency in a vulnerable population while ensuring that food doesn’t go to waste, and that people have an opportunity to increase their food preservation knowledge and skills. The Equality Project has a commercial kitchen, and plans to run different workshops between now and early October, making use of seasonal produce as it becomes available.
In June 2021, members of The Equality Project were surveyed about food preservation workshops, and more than half said they were interested in learning more about food preservation techniques such as canning, freezing, and dehydrating. The kitchen would be able to accommodate up to six participants at a time, and there is the opportunity to rotate for busier or more popular workshops. The plan is that preserved foods would be provided to workshop participants, with any excess distributed at the clubhouse.
The Equality Project provides almost 600 meals to more than 160 individuals each month. The gleaning project and preservation workshops would help many struggling individuals who often go without basic nutrition, and as a result have health issues, by providing fresh fruit and vegetables.
The Project is now looking for people who are able to help pick fruits and vegetables from local gardens, and for people who are interested in having gleaners come to their home to help harvest. They are also looking for preservation workshop facilitators to plan and develop workshops using locally gleaned produce, and are hoping that a variety of people, including Elders and seniors, will host some workshops and share preserving techniques, including traditional ways, in cooperation with a dietitian from Interior Health.
Anyone with fruits and vegetables they have picked themselves, and which they can’t use, is welcome to drop them off at the Project’s clubhouse on Stage Road between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., Monday through Wednesday.
Executive director Shelley Magwood says that earlier in the week is better, as it gives more time to distribute or preserve the produce. Nothing in garbage bags can be accepted, because of chemicals in the bags, and fruit that has dropped to the ground cannot be accepted (fresh-picked only).
Anyone who cannot make it to the clubhouse can contact The Equality Project and arrange for pick-up.
Anyone interested in taking part in any way, or learning more, can contact Magwood by phone at (250) 457-6485 (Monday to Thursday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.) or by email (info@theequalityproject.ca).
editorial@accjournal.ca
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