Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County Roundtable for Ending Poverty launch food sharing program

The City of Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County Roundtable for Ending Poverty, along with Hiawatha First Nation, are proud to present a food-sharing program to help alleviate food insecurity in the two municipalities. At 14.4%, the household food insecurity average in Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton remains one of the highest in the province.

One solution to this problem can be found as close as a backyard apple tree. Both the City of Kawartha Lakes and Haliburton County are home to thousands of edible fruit trees whose fruit is currently going to waste. Additionally, there are vegetable gardeners who find that they have extra food at the end of the season which is not being utilized.

This program offers gardeners and those who have fruit trees on their property an opportunity to register their produce, or to register as a volunteer. Information will only be available to local food banks and partners who will make arrangements to come and harvest donations, or volunteer to collect the harvest. Produce will be split 3 ways: ⅓ is provided to the landowner, ⅓ is goes to the volunteers, and ⅓ will be delivered to a local food bank or food program.

“We are so thrilled to finally be able to bring this project together with the help and support of our numerous partners. It has invaluable potential to bring access to free produce across our communities” says Marina Hodson, co-chair of the CKL and Haliburton County Roundtable for Ending Poverty.

Residents who are interested in participating in this program are encouraged to visit www.cklpoverty.ca and take a look at the Community Harvest Program page for more information.