Saskatchewan visitors at Food Hub

LEAMINGTON — Three Saskatchewan-based visitors were at the Leamington Food Hub on Thursday, November 4 as they made their way to Leamington to observe local produce operations.

Two of the visitors — Cliff Bird and Jai Budhanlall— are members of the Montreal Lake Child and Family Agency. They were joined by Elizabeth Marleau, an agricultural expert who sits on the Prince Albert Grand Council.

Vern Toews of the Leamington Food Hub said that the Food Hub has sent seven semi-truck loads of fresh produce to the community over the past several months and expects to get two more truck loads out there by year’s end.

“That’s about 360,000 pounds of produce and about 800,000 servings,” said Toews.

The trio of visitors were very impressed with the process here in Leamington and spent part of the day exploring the local greenhouse landscape. They met with volunteers from the Leamington Food Hub and thanked them for their support.

From left are Vern Toews, Jai Budhanlall, Elizabeth Moreau and Cliff Bird. Toews treated the trio from Saskatchewan to a tour of the area and a meet-and-greet with volunteers from the Leamington Food Hub. Behind them is a quilt gifted to Vern Toews by First Nations people in Saskatchewan.

In the bottom photo is Food Hub volunteer Lawrence Grubb, unloading some fresh carrots.

SUN photos

The Prince Albert Grand Council is comprised of 12 reserves and 24 communities and represents about 44,000 people in north-central Saskatchewan.

Vern Toews visited their pow-wow this past August and met with the elders, who were eternally grateful for the food donations from Leamington.

They gifted him a quilt to display at the Food Hub, which represents generosity.

The Food Hub helps Indigenous people in remote communities who need food by collecting and sending surplus vegetables from local greenhouses to those communities.

They ship about 400,000 lbs of food per month with about 20 per cent of the food reaching First Nations communities in Saskatchewan and Ontario, while the rest is distributed to organizations across Ontario, including the Unemployed Help Centre’s Hub of Opportunity in Windsor-Essex, Daily Bread, Mississauga Food Bank, Food for Life and Harvest Hands across Ontario.