THATCHER — Produce on Wheels Without Waste returns for a new season this Saturday.
The program, administered locally by the Safford Lions Club, makes available healthy food at a low cost.
“For $15, you get about 70 pounds of fresh veggies, fresh produce, and sometimes bonuses,” said Chris Gibbs with the Lions Club. “That’s basically 20 cents a pound. And I defy anyone to go into a grocery store today and find anything for 20 cents a pound.”
PowWow takes place in the parking lot of Home Depot, from 7-10 a.m. or while supplies last. Participants are asked to enter at the north entrance of Home Depot and drive along the back aisle to the pick-up area.
“We’re continuing our drive through,” said Safford Lions Club President Marion Hastings. “We package it all up, box it all up, and then we say, ‘Open your trunk’ or put it in the back of the pick-ups, and away you go. You don’t even have to get out of your vehicle.”
Any produce remaining at the close of PowWow is shared with Our Neighbor’s Farm and Pantry, the St. Vincent DePaul food bank and Mt. Graham Safe House. Any produce found unfit for human consumption is sold to area farmers and ranchers for animal feed, so there is no waste in the program.
PowWow is overseen by Borderlands Produce Rescue. The goal is to prevent excess produce from going to waste and the PowWow program saves about 32 million pounds of produce each year.
