CELS project nets 76,721 pounds of produce for the RI Food Bank.

In all, the CELS/Food Bank project reaped 76,721 pounds of fresh food for needy families in Rhode Island, reports Bruce R. Zarembka, director of acquisition and distribution services at the RI Community Food Bank.

By RUDI HEMPE
CELS News Editor & Reporter

(story starts below photo at left)

Dame said "on paper we accomplished quite a lot." Besides the tonnage of produce , the project gave CELS good exposure when the project was featured on the TV show, The Plant Pro, hosted by Dr. Marion Gold, CELS Outreach Center director. In addition, Dame held a Twilight Dinner Meeting for commercial growers at agronomy and invited two guest lecturers on solving problems with commercial growing techniques.

"As pleased as I am to have had a part in all that, the greatest part of this project for me has been the amazing sense of camaraderie, self-sacrifice, enthusiasm and tenacity that marked every persons and organization who participated in the planning, the plantings, the transplanting, the weeding, the harvesting and the distribution of 76,721 pounds of produce to Rhode Island's hungry," said Dame.

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Tons of cabbages are now in the coolers owned by the RI Community Food Bank, thanks to the efforts of scores of URI 101 students, CELS staffers, 4-H members and URI Master Gardeners.

Major harvesting sessions were held Oct. 19 and 20 at the agronomy fields off Plains Road, says Kristen M. Dame, the CELS Small Farm Project Manager, who oversaw the project which is an ongoing collaboration between the food bank and the college. All the work was done by volunteers. The 101 students did the project to fulfill their community service requirement.

Dame said 29,889 pounds of cabbage were harvested.

That was in addition to 46,832 pounds of winter squash that were harvested a few weeks ago under another phase of the project.

In all, the CELS/Food Bank project reaped 76,721 pounds of fresh food for needy families in Rhode Island, reports Bruce R. Zarembka, director of acquisition and distribution services at the RI Community Food Bank.

The cabbage plants were raised from seed by a team of URI Master Gardeners and volunteers from the American Power Conversion plant in Kingston , using the Master Gardener greenhouses at East Farm. The 13,000 plants were transplanted to agronomy several weeks later by more volunteers. The Master Gardeners also raised thousands of collard plants which were planted around the perimeter of the cabbage field to act as a "trap crop" to attract pests which normally hit cabbages.