b'A portion of the six million pound bulk donation from Acadian Hutterite Colony being organized into smaller boxes for distribution.and beyond. About the same time, AcadiaDonating excess spuds to fight hungersupport of farmers go beyond the obvious, Hutterite Colonys neighbour, Blumengartisnt only a win for people in need.though. Hutterite Colony, stepped up with anotherCompared to composting excess spuds, aWe recognize that [farmers who donate] six million pound donation.donation to charity makes an importantare dealing with a significant financial Farmlink deals in virtually any productenvironmental impact too. According tohit when were working at this scale. One they can pass on to individuals andFarmlink, rescuing 10 million pounds ofof the things Im hoping to do with the families in need, from carrots to kitty litter.potatoesand remember the donationsUnited Potato Growers of Canadaand However, Meyer says, potatoes top thefrom the two colonies was 12 millionweve done this with the United States preferred product list.poundsprevents the release of 48 millionDepartment of Agriculture and the state The apple is the gold standard [forpounds of carbon equivalent or greenhousedepartments of agricultureis ask: how produce donation]. The next gold standardsgas emissions. Thats the equivalent to thecan we help advocate to the Canadian are the potato, the orange and the sweetemissions produced by 4,653 cars driven forMinistry of Agriculture so that there may be potato. [Potatoes are] incredibly nutritiousone year or in farming terms, the amountsomething that can be put in place to help produce items. Theyre incredibly durable,sequestered from 27,512 cover cropped acresfarmers?they dont need a lot of special handling,per year.Stamper hopes that the potato industrys they have a tremendous shelf life and theyreThough Farmlinks focus is food security,leadership in this kind of major donation so versatile. Besides the apple, the potato isMeyer says supporting farmers financialbecomes a model that other commodity top to bottom perfect. health is critical too. Step one in that isgroups follow. Certainly, no one hopes for While 12 million pounds soundsandensuring farmers receive a tax receipt forexcess spuds at any scale, let alone the scale isa huge volume of donated spuds, Meyertheir donation.facing some producers this year. However, says hed welcome more with open arms. In Certainly, the farmer, and certainlythe reality is that market imbalances do fact, he says that in an ideal world, hed loveanyone who would donate packaging, wedoccur from time to time in all commodities, to send a tote of potatoes to each of Canadassend a donation tax receipt. We keep trackand potatoes happen to be well-positioned 4,000 hunger fighting charities each andof where everything goes, and we make surethis year to lead Canadas fruit and veggie every single day. everything only goes to a hunger-fightingsector towards hunger-fighting, best-use We need 700 million pounds, so 70charity and is used within the rules to makedonations. truckloads a day every day, to drive foodsure it is eligible for a tax donation.Were just getting started. Its so exciting insecurity in Canada to zero, says Meyer. Meyer would like to see Farmlinksto be in on the ground floor, say Stamper.SPUDSMART.COMSpring 202435'