LOCAL FOOD & DRINK Let’s Save the Fruit

LET’S SAVE THE FRUIT

As a resident of Quebec, the first thing that I noticed when I arrived on Vancouver Island in the Cowichan Valley was the density of vegetation. With warm summers, mild winters, and the incredible landscape, the Cowichan Valley allows a large amount of food to grow. Of course, most of this food is being cared for by farmers and when the time comes, they are offered to the community. But often, it so happens that this food is not growing on a farm. It can be in a backyard, a park, a public space, a terrace, or wherever a plant can grow. Unfortunately, most of this uncultivated food is forgotten and will go to waste, or more often, they will be eaten by the birds, bugs and wildlife.

For the past 12 years, Cowichan Green Community’s (CGC) FruitSave program has stepped up to rescue those fruits and other comestible aliments. The mission of the program is to be sure that it will be redistributed throughout the community. This volunteer-led gleaning program organizes and connects volunteer pickers with fruit tree owners whose trees produce an overwhelming yield. The gleaned fruit is shared between the pickers, the tree owners, and the CGC. Additionally, the gleaned fruit is donated to local canning workshops and food skills programs that aim to teach the community about the importance of healthy food. CGC’s Food Recovery Team will be contributing to handling the excess produce and processing the fruit into value-added products for redistribution to those in need.

With the collaboration of the Food Recovery Team and the promising fruit season ahead, FruitSave is looking for fruit trees and volunteers to help our program achieve its full potential in reaching as many community members as possible. FruitSave is a wonderful program to make connections with the community, learn about local food, and spend time outdoors in our beautiful valley.

To register as a tree owner or volunteer picker, please visit our website at https:// cowichangreencommunity.org/ community-action/fruitsave/ or send us an email at fruitsave@ cowichangreencommunity.org or call 250-748-8506.

Jonas Rey-Sierro is an intern from Quebec that is working at Cowichan Green Community for all summer.