For anyone curious about the true impact of our Read for Seeds program, consider this: Last year, the farm crew planted about two grams of tomato seeds. Those yielded about 850 tomato plants. With sunshine and water in the right combination, plus the necessary TLC from our farm crew and volunteers, those plants produced about 10,000 pounds of tomatoes. This summer crop contributes a significant percentage of our weekly harvest, particularly in the hot summer months—a fact all the more evident when you consider that we harvested 80,000 pounds of produce over the entire season. And it all goes back to the humble seed.

As we kick off this year’s Read for Seeds program with area elementary schools, we give great thanks to the school children who are reading their hearts out this winter and collecting pledges for each page read. Every page, just as every seed, makes a difference.

Read for Seeds in 2017: The True Impact

717,625 – Number of seeds purchased
80,000 – Pounds of produce harvested
650 –  Families fed per week
70 –  Percent of our seed budget raised by children