Food Podcast: Food bank farm preps to grow produce for Pittsburghers

When people think of the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, they usually think about a warehouse filled with food. Not many people realize the food bank not only houses and distributes food to the people of Western Pennsylvania, but it also grows it.

But 30 miles north of Pittsburgh, on the campus of Chatham University Eden Hall, you’ll find an acre where fruits and veggies grow. It’s been home to the food bank’s farm for three years, operated through a partnership with Chatham University students, food bank interns and volunteers.

The idea was planted years ago as a way to bring locally grown, organic produce to people through the Green Grocer truck. The Green Grocer is a mobile farmers market that brings fresh produce to areas where is it hard, or even impossible, to find.

“Starting our own farm … growing and selling our own produce allows us to provide access to more people by accepting all forms of payment (for produce),” said Lori Diefenbacher, the food bank’s produce and agricultural programs coordinator.

The produce is grown on the farm, then sold at the Green Grocer truck at more than 20 locations across the region.

The farm is in the early phases of planting for this year.

The farm harvests organic produce, including arugula, broccoli, squash, cucumber, kale, pepper, pumpkin, tomato, zucchini and pumpkin, to name a few. But the farm isn’t home only to vegetables.

“Last fall, we planted an orchard on the food bank farm,” Diefenbacher said. “Sixty-four fruit trees and 16 blueberry bushes. They will not produce fruit for another couple of years, but they still need lots of care to develop good root systems.”

The trees were planted with the help of the Fruit Tree Planting Foundation.

Diefenbacher said the plants do well despite the region’s temperamental weather.

Currently, the farm needs funding for an irrigation system and is having workers drive a cistern to the crops to water them.

Diefenbacher said the hope is that the farm will grow and the food bank will have enough funding to create a greenhouse so the region can have access to locally grown organic produce from the farm year-round.

To learn more, visit pittsburghfoodbank.org.

Listen: Food bank operates farm to grow produce for the region