Our Story | Farm Share

information@farmshare.org

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OUR STORY

Farm Share Distributes Food at No Charge

Farm Share was established in 1991 as a means to eliminate food waste. Since its inception, we have grown to accommodate a growing hunger. Many large groups collect food donations from the public and charge a per-pound “shared maintenance fee” to your local church, soup kitchen, etc. for this food. These fees add up to hundreds of thousands of dollars per year. If the agency cannot afford the shared maintenance fees, they do not get the food. Smaller grass-root agencies that cannot afford the shared maintenance fees get left out in the cold. Farm Share gives food to our recipient agencies without fees of any kind.

The Only Charitable Produce Packinghouse in the Eastern United States

This means that while most groups focus on canned and processed food donations, our mission remains focused on re-packing fresh, nutritious fruits and vegetables that would otherwise be thrown away. It costs more to handle this kind of food, but fresh produce is simply more nutritious than canned, and there is a nearly unlimited supply of it being thrown out every year. Farm Share receives food in bulk and has the resources to sort, pack, store and ship tractor-trailer loads of fresh food.

Make A Donation

You support our farmers who donate surplus produce so hungry families can eat.

Adopt Farm Share

You support our elderly who receive over 70% of distributed USDA commodities.

ADOPT A CHARITY

Volunteer Your Time

You support our environment by preventing surplus food from ending up in landfills.

BECOME A VOLUNTEER

Low Administrative Cost

Farm Share’s administrative costs are kept surprisingly low by partnering with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. This provides easy access to produce farmers, packers, brokers and wholesalers who freely donate fresh fruits and vegetables, saving money on transportation costs. By utilizing the supply of bulk produce donations (42,000 lbs at a time) from Florida farmers, we don’t need to spend money on soliciting and collecting individual donations from hundreds or thousands of donation sites.

Public/Private Partnership

Farm Share has a public/private partnership with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (which provides warehouse facilities, support staff, equipment, services, and state oversight). More than 18,000,000 pounds of fresh and nutritious fruits and vegetables are shipped each year to participating agencies throughout the Eastern seaboard.