You make the difference… Bushels of thanks!!!

The fall season is upon us and that means we will be gleaning in full force very soon. This blog post is a little refresher on why we do what we do. It is also a reminder of why it is so important to our community.

Why fresh produce?      Although government assistance is available to some of those who need it, not everybody qualifies for Food Stamps or other food-assistance programs. The assistance received also does not guarantee access to fresh food. Most food received from emergency food programs are canned and packaged. The healthier, more nutritious foods can be expensive in comparison to the readily available, cheap, processed food. Between 2006 and 2009, obesity rates rose in the tri-county area. Berkeley County has one of the highest adult obesity rates in the state. Eating vegetables provides health benefits – people who eat more vegetables and fruits as part of an overall healthy diet are likely to have a reduced risk of some chronic diseases. Vegetables provide nutrients vital for health and maintenance of your body.

South Carolina facts on hunger from Feeding America 

Food insecurity rates by its respective County (overall, child)

Charleston, Charleston County (16%, 24%)

N. Charleston, Charleston County (16%, 24%)

Mt. Pleasant, Charleston County (16%, 24%)

“Millions of Americans are unemployed and millions of others are working for reduced wages or working fewer hours. Many of these people never thought they would need a helping hand, but are now turning to programs like SNAP,” said Vicki Escarra, president and CEO of Feeding America.”We know that the number of people coming to Feeding America food banks for assistance increased a staggering 46 percent in the last few years. Food stamps and other anti-hunger programs give hope to struggling Americans and protect them from deeper crisis as they work to get back on their feet.”

Here’s how we help…

Founded in 2006, Fields to Families is a nonprofit organization located in Charleston, South Carolina, that helps the hungry in our community gain access to nutritious fruits and vegetables.

We could not make this happen without our wonderful volunteers and farmers! Our success is measured in pounds and testimonials. The more we can glean the more families we can help. Unfortunately poundage is not always inside of our control as mother-nature has been known to play a role but we do our best to increase the number of meals we can provide every year.

To do so, we depend on the generosity of our neighbors to help us achieve our mission. Those people include the farmers who have agreed to offer us their unused fruits and vegetables, volunteers who help pick produce, community members who give us extras from their gardens, and recipient agencies who help distribute this nutritious food those in need. Without their help and the generosity of people like you — we wouldn’t be able to run our programs.

In 2015, Fields to Families has collected, gleaned, and distributed over 37,000 lbs of fresh fruits and veggies. In 2015, Oasis has collected, gleaned, and distributed 15,000 lbs of fresh fruit and veggies directly to the North Charleston food desert areas. 15,000 pounds equates to 12,000 meals. Together we have distributed 52,000 pounds of fresh produce.  There are still three months left in the year!  PARTNERSHIPS ROCK!
A lot of us take fresh produce for granted, but to those who have no access it is truly valued.

 

Fields to Families, outreach partner, OASIS, concentrates on delivering produce to USDA defined food deserts.  Food deserts are a harsh reality in South Carolina. According to Clemson University, there are 1,632 rural and 4,897 urban communities that meet the food desert definition. Food deserts are areas identified as lacking healthy retail grocery stores within easy traveling distance of residents.  This is leaving families in both urban and rural neighborhoods with limited access to healthy food. Poor nutrition with lack of access to healthy choices contributes to obesity, declining health, diabetes, and poor academic outcomes of neighborhood children.

Here is the latest food desert map for our area… Green shading indicates food desert areas.

Our greatest measure of success is the appreciation shown by our recipient agencies and the folks who receive our produce.

“Yesterday was an amazing day for sixty plus of our children in the afterschool programs at Ferndale and Liberty Park/Highland Terrace.I bagged a bean and a corn bag or two for each child. I had the opportunity to meet and greet many of the parents and one especially grabbed my heart strings. It was actually the Grandmother picking up her grandson and when I offered the bag to her and told her what it was she exclaimed, “What a blessing. My mother has been wanting some fresh green beans.” Her elderly mother was sitting in the car and just smiled with joy. And yes I gave her an extra bag of beans. Made my day, reminded me what we are doing matters, said a prayer of thanksgiving for all of those that make this endeavor possible.”

 

Belinda Swindler, who runs the Felix Davis Community Center, wrote to us after receiving watermelons gleaned by our volunteers:

“Re: watermelons Oh my…we made a lot of people happy! I shared with (24) seniors and four families.What a blessing! We just never know the impact we make but the smiles and thanks are priceless. It is a good thing. Thank you again, again and again.”

Donna Bailey, who runs the Sherman House, low income senior housing, has been receiving fresh produce for her residents. She told us the the nurse who comes by to check blood pressure has noticed results! Watermelons and blueberries are better for you than potato chips.  Fresh produce is so much healthier than canned. No salt added and full of vitamins. 

Seniors are also hit hard by lack of funds and transportation. According to AARP SC ranks 44th for food insecure seniors.

It isn’t fair

Access to fresh, healthy produce shouldn’t be so difficult.  Food injustice is a social injustice. Let’s address this problem together.

You make the difference! 

Thank you and we hope to see you out in the fields soon!

If you haven’t already, just sign up on the Fields to Families website and thereafter you will be notified of ALL gleanings – OASIS, Fields to Families, and all joint gleanings.

http://www.fieldstofamilies.org/volunteer/

Thank you… and more opportunities to harvest

Thank you to twenty volunteers who worked VERY hard and very productively to provide 1730 pounds of cabbage, turnips, rutabaga, kale, and some collards to those in need.           

1500 pounds is on its way to residents that live in food deserts in our community.

There is still more to be harvested!
As per Sidi Limehouse, farmer, “the field will be too wet for gleaning tomorrow because of today’s heavy rain” so we have cancelled tomorrows gleaning. We have scheduled another joint Fields to Families and Oasis gleaning for Friday, January 16th at 10 AM to pick more cabbage, turnips and rutabaga and we will glean again on Monday January 19th at 9:30 with the College of Charleston and OASIS and Fields to Families.
Please sign up to participate in the Friday and/or Monday gleanings. It is Martin Luther King Weekend and children are off from school Thursday, Friday and Monday. While we will again be needing knives and children will not be able to cut the vegetables from their stems, all the children who participated yesterday had a great time just carrying vegetables and enjoying the fresh air and the experience of handling food fresh from the earth, so bring the family! If you are a first time gleaner for OASIS, please register at http://www.fieldstofamilies.org/volunteer. Since we are still experiencing problems with our email, so please sign up at fooddesertoasis@gmail.com.
Again, thanks so much to all of you…

We need your help

Sunday January 11 at 11 AM at Rosebank Farms                                        Contact oasis_1@aol.com for extended Sunday hours

Tuesday, January 13 at 11 AM at Rosebank Farms
Sunday, January 19, MLK day. Time TBA

Please help us clear the field at Rosebank Farm! There are collards and cabbages to be cut. We need many hands to do this enormous job. Sidi Limehouse, the owner of Rosebank Farms has gone out of his way to accommodate to our needs and to our schedule. It is pay back time! We need to get those cabbages and collards out of his fields and into the stomachs of those that are hungry. We have scheduled a gleaning for Sunday, January 11 and another for Tuesday, January 13, to do this big job. Please help us by volunteering to clear the field. This is a major work effort and while you can bring your children, this is not encouraged for this gleaning since knives and machetes are necessary for cutting the thick stems and children are not equipped to do this job. They will only be able to participate by carrying the cut produce to boxes for transport. Thank you for your help. This is a big harvest and as many hands as possible are needed. Contact OASIS_1@aol.com for more information.

Happy New Year

According to Chinese belief, the firecrackers you might have heard last night will drive away the evil spirits! I hope it will drive away excessive rain, heat, bugs and blight so that 2015 will be a banner gleaning year! We are grateful to all of you, our volunteers, for the generosity of your time and energy with which you have supported our efforts in 2014. Since May of 2014, when OASIS was founded, all of the produce you so willingly harvested, and graciously donated by Sidi Limehouse of Rosebank Farms, helped us to distribute almost 13,000 pounds of fresh vegetables to the residents of the North Charleston Food Desert. The produce you harvest goes directly to families with children and the elderly and supports TriCounty Family Ministries, an agency that serves more than a thousand meals a week to residents of the North Charleston Food desert. We hear comments like “Oh my, the kale and tomatoes were a hit.” or “We have now served five camp sites with a total of 175 children. Priceless!” or “Holy smoke…some of these taters are HUGE” and constant notes of appreciation from recipients of the produce you provide. Please know that OASIS accepts these words of appreciation on your behalf. You are providing good health and sustenance and hope for the future to those in need.

The following is an excerpt from an email sent to us by the Senior Coordinator of the North Charleston Recreation Department who facilitates the distribution of the produce you harvest to more than a dozen sites in the North Charleston food desert. It was sent after a harvest of green beans and corn that she was distributing to the parents of children being picked up from an after-school program. She writes “Yesterday was an amazing day for sixty plus of our children in two of our after-school programs. I had the opportunity to meet and greet many of the parents and one especially grabbed my heart strings. It was actually the Grandmother picking up her grandson and when I offered the bag of corn and beans, she exclaimed, ‘what a blessing, my mother has been wanting some fresh green beans!’ Her elderly mother was sitting in the car and just smiled with joy! And yes, I gave her an extra bag of beans! Made my day, reminded me that what we are doing matters, and said a prayer of thanksgiving for all of those that make this endeavor possible.” You indeed make this endeavor possible! She also wrote “For all the folks that made this good happen thus far, I am humbled by your labor and grateful to just be a small part of the endeavor.” We are also humbled by your labor and are extremely grateful to all of you for bringing sunshine and hope into the lives of those that have so little.

Have a wonderful and fruitful YEAR! We look forward to peace and health and well being for our donors, volunteers, our supporters, and the people whom we serve.

Oasis… please volunteer to help, by harvesting produce or donating your other talents, to help us reach more residents living in food deserts.  Contact us at oasis_1@aol.com

Thank you

Dear Volunteers,
We wish you a fantastic holiday filled with joy and peace and love and family and friends. May the New Year bring the fulfillment of your dreams and ambitions. May it bring Peace in the world and the blessing of food and shelter and clothing to all who are in need.
We thank you on behalf of those for whom you have labored in the fields. Their gratitude should warm your hearts as it has ours as we continue in this good work.
You have helped to provide close to 13,000 pounds of fresh vegetables to the residents of the North Charleston Food Desert.
May your blessings be increased by the blessings you have brought to others.

Oasis… please volunteer to help, by harvesting produce or donating your other talents, to help us reach more residents living in food deserts. Contact us at oasis_1@aol.com

Food desert awareness

Big Food rates heavy blame for obesity

Sep 21 2014 12:01 am

It’s ironic that the same day we read your Sept. 5 editorial “Reduce heavy burden on state,” we passed a CARTA bus covered with photos of fast food and discovered that it was Free Ride Friday, sponsored by McDonald’s.

Why are we using our tax dollars to subsidize the big food industry and products that we know cause obesity and a lifetime of chronic health problems? This cheap food is going to be very expensive in the long run.

These foods should be taxed, with the money going to nutrition education and promoting responsible farming practices. It seems that you are blaming the people when it is, in fact, the food industry that needs to be held accountable.

Food is designed by nature to protect your heart. Processed foods are stripped of soluble fiber, antioxidants and “good” fats, but contain trans fats, salt, refined grains and high fructose corn syrup, which contribute to or raise the risk of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart attacks, insulin resistance, diabetes, belly fat and poor academic performance.

No amount of kayaking, paddle boarding or other types of exercise, will combat the ill effects of these types of food.

When you use the term “so-called” food deserts you seem to imply that food deserts aren’t real.

But food deserts are a harsh reality in South Carolina. According to Clemson University, there are 1,632 rural and 4,897 urban communities that meet the food desert definition.

Low-income Americans are always hit the hardest, despite many of them being our hardest workers. Many residents who live in these food deserts once lived on the peninsula or the islands, in thriving communities with plenty of fresh food available. Due to re-gentrification, huge increases in property taxes, a lack of affordable housing and a stagnant minimum wage, many of our long-time residents are concentrated into areas of poverty with very little food choice.

We agree that the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) should have restrictions on the kind of food purchased, but if there is no alternative, what have we accomplished?

Along with restrictions, there needs to be an increase in availability of whole foods. There needs to be widespread education, empowerment and funding of healthy food hubs at the state level to make a substantial change.

We would like to thank our local farmers, who allow us to pick vegetables from their fields before they are plowed. We deliver that fresh, local, healthy produce to agencies that serve those living in food deserts. In our experiences working with the food insecure, it is the fresh fruits and vegetables that are most highly valued.

We encourage people to take the Food Stamp Challenge for a better understanding of the challenges facing the food insecure. If you would like to volunteer to pick local produce for the residents of our local food deserts and those who serve them, please contact OASIS at oasis_1@aol.com