Read about Share the Bounty, Berkshire Grown’s innovative project that supports farmers and food pantries!
“Some people get their best ideas in the shower or on long walks. For Jonathan Hankin and Barbara Zheutlin, inspiration came from a humble box of vegetables…” Sarah Todd of RURAL INTELLIGENCE wrote an article about Share the Bounty, which sheds light on the project’s tremendous regional impact.
Berkshire Grown celebrated the 10th anniversary of its project Share the Bounty with a lecture by the Nature Conservancy’s Frank Lowenstein titled “Climate Change and Local Agriculture,” followed by a party in honor of local farmers on Saturday, July 21, 2:00pm at Stonover Farm (169 Under Mountain Road in Lenox). The reception featured tastes of locally grown food (and locally produced ice cream!) and an opportunity to meet farmers from local farms, including Cricket Creek Farm, Indian Line Farm, Leahey Farm, Three Maples Market Garden, and Woven Roots Farm.
Share the Bounty is a unique project that raises money to buy shares in local farms and then donates the fresh food to local food pantries. Every dollar raised works twice: helping farmers and feeding some of the hungry people in the community. Berkshire Grown’s pioneering project has inspired more than $104,000 in contributions since its founding by Jonathan Hankin in 2002. Funds have bought shares in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farms in the greater Berkshire region (Massachusetts, New York, and Connecticut) and then donated the fresh food to area food pantries and kitchens and WIC participants.
This year Share the Bounty purchased shares in 14 farms that will help feed approximately 600 families each week through the harvest season (which generally runs mid-June through October). The Food Bank of Western Massachusetts recently made a $1525 grant to Share the Bounty to expand the program into Pittsfield.
“Share the Bounty’s 10 years of doing good” By Brian Mastroianni in the Advocate Weekly.
“Giving to those less fortunate is always good. Giving in a way that multiplies the good work and keeps the money you contribute in the local economy is even better…” Stephen Dravis of iBerkshires.com wrote this article about the 10th anniversary of Share the Bounty.
Judith Lerner of the Berkshire Eagle dove into the detailed history of Share the Bounty in the paper…read here about the evolution of the project since Jonathan Hankin dreamed it up and partnered with Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation ten years ago to get it going.”
Listen to Share the Bounty story, featuring Berkshire Grown director Barbara Zheutlin and Andrew Morehouse, director of The Food Bank of Western MA. On WAMC Northeast Public Radio!
For more information about the event and Share the Bounty click:
Photo of Berkshire Food Project by Caroline Alexander, Berkshire Food Journal
