Spring Harvest yields winners on all sides

Staff Reports

The Hays County Food Bank believes that food is a basic right, and that everyone deserves access to healthy food. They aim to provide every household with a variety of food, one-third of which is fresh produce.

While canned items are always a hot commodity, fresh fruits and vegetables are some of the most requested items. The rising cost of food means that fresh produce can be much harder to come by for the average family. For those needing food assistance, regular access to fresh foods can be near impossible.

While any vegetable is better than no vegetable, canned foods tend to have a higher sodium content and there can be a lack of variety. Having a good mix of canned and fresh items in your kitchen can make for healthier meals. The Spring Harvest Food Drive Challenge was created to get teams to focus on fresh instead of just canned, and the food bank is happy to say that there are more and more teams getting excited to participate.

This year, the food bank would like to recognize two teams.

“The first fabulous food drive contender brought in the most overall pounds of fresh produce. This team took the harvest part of the challenge to heart and donated 585 pounds of healthy lettuce and various basils! Thank you, Iron Ox for being Spring Harvest Winners! Households will surely enjoy the bountiful harvest you shared!” the Hays County Food Bank said. 

Iron Ox is a fairly new agricultural site located in Lockhart,TX. Iron Ox facilities use robotics and artificial intelligence to ensure each individual plant receives the optimal levels of sunshine, water, and nutrients. Their unique approach to precision farming not only uses less water, less energy, and emits less CO2, it also enhances the quality of the food produced.

This process allows them to grow exactly what’s needed, eliminate waste, and build an environmentally sustainable food supply. Their products can be purchased at Whole Foods and local restaurants.

“The food bank would also like to recognize the Kyle Fire Department, Living Word Lutheran Church and the Kyle Lions club for bringing in the most overall pounds of food from their ‘Fill the Firetruck’ event. They were presented our traveling trophy while volunteering at our food distribution in Kyle. Food is always welcome, and these organizations worked hard to collect and donate 1,287 pounds to help feed our local families in need,” the Hays County Food Bank said. 

The food bank said they hope everyone had a wonderful time collecting and donating food for a good cause.

“In this type of competition, our community is the real winner. While those teams who donated the most pounds of food received special recognition, every team who participated gets to feel good about helping to ensure their fellow neighbors continue to have access to nutritious food,” the Hays County Food Bank said.

Overall, 1,065 pounds of fresh produce and 5,055 pounds of shelf-stable foods were collected and dropped off during the course of this food drive challenge.

“Hundreds of families who struggle benefitted from this food drive, and the food bank hopes that people were inspired to donate food or funds regularly throughout the year. Hunger knows no season, and the food bank works to provide a continuous variety of nutritious foods to those who seek food assistance,” the Hays County Food Bank said.