#175: Mike talks with Gary Oppenheimer of AmpleHarvest.org

In this week's episode, Mike talks with Gary Oppenheimer, the Executive Director and Founder of Ampleharvest.org, a self described aging geek, he has worked with computers and communications going back to the 1970's. As director of a community garden in 2009, he learned about the wasted food in many plots and created a program called "Ample Harvest" to get the excess food to local food pantries. Realizing this as a nationwide problem, he created a nationwide solution called Ampleharvest.org to use the Internet to educate, encourage and enable millions of growers nationwide to share their ample harvest with local food pantries in all 50 states. In this episode, here’s what we’ll cover: All About Gary Oppenheimer All about AmpleHarvest.org Just in time inventory Gary Oppenheimer as a CNN Hero Obstacles that AmpleHarvest.org faced in the early going Food Pantry Restrictions The goals and vision of AmpleHarvest.org Your food donation as a tax deduction AmpleHarvest.org's mission Eye opening statistics on the amount of food waste in America How to donate to your local food pantry What you should be donating How to find a food pantry close to you How to get your local food pantry on board Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act of 1996 Items mentioned in this episode include: AmpleHarvest.org Feeding America Gary Oppenheimer - CNN Hero America's Food Banks Snap Gardens Tax deduction receipt for your harvest donation Make a tax deducatble donation to AmpleHarvest.org today Find a food pantry in your area right now National Gardening Association Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act of 1996 Feeding the 5,000 National Resources Defense Council report on food waste USDA report on food waste AmpleHarvest.org on Growing a Greener World Agent for change in your community About this week's Guest, Gary Oppenheimer of Ampleharvest.org: While more than 50 million Americans live in food insecure homes (including a quarter of all children under the age of six), more than 40 million Americans grow fruit, vegetables herbs and nuts in home gardens - often more than they can use, preserve or give to friends. Struggling to feed their families, many Americans, both those chronically economically challenged as well as those now impacted by the economic downturn have come to rely on the more than 33,500 food pantries (also called food shelves, food closets, food cupboards or food banks in some areas) across America to help feed their families. These food pantries, relying on donated and purchased foods, almost never have fresh produce and instead rely on canned or processed produce shipped from across the country at significant cost, both economic and environmental. At the same time, millions of home and community gardeners nationwide with an abundant harvest do not know that they can share their harvest, do not know how to share their harvest and do not know where to share their harvest. Ampleharvest.org solves that for them. Ampleharvest.org envisions an America where millions of gardeners eliminate malnutrition and hunger in their own community. Ampleharvest.org, moving information instead of food to diminish hunger and malnutrition in America, is educating, encouraging and empowering growers to share their excess harvest with the needy in their community instead of letting it rot in the garden. Our "No Food Left Behind" goal is a healthier and by extension, wealthier America.
Previous Podcast Episodes #174: Mike talks with Vincent Suozzi Creator of the Ring Weeder #173: Mike talks with Holly Baird of the Wisconsin Vegetable Gardener About Urban Gardening #172: Mike talks with Carol Niec and Kerrie Rosenthal About the Seed Keeper Project #171: Mike talks Gardening with Shawna Coronado #170: Mike talks with Heidi Kennedy of CrockPotLadies.com