N.B. non-profit on target to grow and donate 225,000 lbs of fresh produce

Underneath the hot August sun, amongst rows and rows of sweet corn, 5000 Farms is working towards a big growing goal this season -- 225,000 lbs of fresh produce.

For the last several years, the non-profit Christian ministry has set out on a mission to help combat food insecurity and strengthen food security across New Brunswick by donating mass amounts of local crops to the Food Depot Alimentaire.

"I've been doing this now for just close to 10 years. It was on my heart about 10 years ago to help the food insecure and the needy and so we started this mission officially about seven years ago," said 5000 Farms Executive Director Ken Reid. 

"5000 Farms was incorporated in 2020 and we gained our CR registered charity status in 2021, so we've been really putting a big focus on how can we really make an impact here on the province in terms of food security. We're not here to compete with our valuable for-profit farmers, our growing market, we're just here to fill a niche and we take a lot of pride in that."

Each summer, the group grows eight staple crops: sweet corn, potatoes, carrots, green beans, onions, squash, cucumber and rutabaga.

"We already harvested about 8,000 lbs of fresh green beans and now we're doing sweet corn and then right on the heels of that will be potato, carrots and onion," said Reid.

"This year's been a good year. We had a great start with the spring, some of the best crop emergence we've ever had."

One hundred per cent of the produce is then donated to the Food Depot Alimentaire and distributed to food banks and community kitchens across the province.

Food Depot Alimentaire Executive Director Stephane Sirois says the crops come in batches and are expected to continue until mid-to-end September depending on the weather.

"The food is picked out of the ground in the morning. It comes here in the afternoon. The next morning it's at the food bank, so this is amazing," said Sirois.

He says New Brunswick food banks and community kitchens are seeing more than 50,000 visits a month and while there is usually a decrease during the summer, they haven't seen that this year.

Adding that without donations, like those seen from 5000 Farms, there would be a lot less fresh produce and it would be very costly to the Food Depot.

"It would be a huge, huge cost difference plus produce that comes from outside New Brunswick there's the travel time, the cost of transportation and when you get strawberries or berries from California, they don't taste the same. It's not as fresh," he said.

“Hopefully it will even grow. They're talking now about raising some chickens and even expanding the size of their farm.”

Reid says they're looking at raising meat king chickens on a trial basis looking to produce anywhere from 1,000-3,000 lbs at first.

After a challenging growing season last year due to too much rain and water in the fields, Reid says this year has been a "remarkable turnaround" and they’re on track to meet their 225,000 lb goal.

"When we're in harvest particularly, having more hands is always helpful. Most of our crop is mechanized now, corn is our only exception where we still have to pick that by hand but the other crops all are mechanized, but we still need volunteers to help us process that vegetable, bag it and so forth," he said.

Right now, the non-profit relies on community support to make its work possible.

It has a very active board of directors which works both behind the scenes and out on the field, and a number of community partnerships including DIY Studio, Veseys Seeds, Mike and Moira Murphy, and Glad Tidings Church.

Currently, sweet corn is the second crop that 5000 Farms is harvesting from its field with a number more to go this season.

People interested in volunteering can message 5000 Farms through its Facebook page or website.

There is also an awareness day happening Saturday morning at Glad Tidings Church where people can learn more about the cause, how to help out and even pick up some locally-grown New Brunswick sweet corn.

For more New Brunswick news visit our dedicated provincial page.