Desert Sun Staff • January 30, 2008

Got fruit? Decorative citrus that will otherwise go to waste?
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The city of Indian Wells is collecting citrus to distribute to the needy with a program begun last year to help farmworkers and their families affected by the freeze.

"Residents responded so enthusiastically to last year's city-sponsored 'Salvage for Sustenance' drive to aid people devastated by the January freeze that the City of Indian Wells has decided to make this an annual event," Mayor Mary Roche said in a press release.

The cold snap last January destroyed $86 million in Riverside County produce and drove about 10,000 farmworkers into unemployment lines. Indian Wells collected more than 65 tons of citrus for Hidden Harvest, a Coachella-based produce recovery program.

The citrus collection will run through April 30th. For more information, phone 346-2489.


Source: http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080130/NEWS01/80130036/1263/update

Great idea. I drive to and from work looking at trees filled with citrus this is going to end up rotting on the ground. I hate seeing waste. It reminds me how much we take for granted.

This reminds me of the hunter's food banks. Many hunters end up with more wild game than they possibly eat. There are several food banks set up by and for hunters to give their surpluses.

Phillip