Each year, students at La Grande Middle School grow a wide variety of flowers, herbs and vegetable starts in the school’s greenhouse. After the annual plant sale fundraiser, there are often leftover vegetable starts that need a home.
This initiative helps increase access to fresh, homegrown food for individuals and families who rely on food pantries.
For the past two years, Oregon State University Extension Service’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Education (SNAP-Ed) staff have partnered with the school to collect and redistribute the unsold plants to local food pantries. In 2023, SNAP-Ed staff arranged delivery of nearly 400 vegetable starts to the North Powder Food Bank (162 plants), Union Food Bank (90 plants) and the La Grande Senior Center Harvest Share (130 plants). Distributions were timed to coincide with regular food pick-up days.
Pantry participants are often delighted to receive tomato, pepper, squash and other vegetable starts they can grow at home. The fresh produce offers a healthy addition to meals later in the summer — and gardening itself is known to reduce stress and promote well-being.
This year, students are working in a new, larger greenhouse, which means more plants for community gardens and containers — and likely more to share again with local families through food pantries.
This initiative helps increase access to fresh, homegrown food for individuals and families who rely on food pantries, while also supporting mental well-being through gardening. It strengthens community connections by linking local students, schools and Extension with efforts to promote food security and self-reliance.