MEDIA RELEASE

Do you have more tomatoes, avocadoes, or lemons than you can eat? Visit the Saturday, Oct. 16 at the inaugural Crop Swap at The Malaai School Garden at Waimea Middle School, to trade surplus produce for crops grown by your neighbors.

The Crop Swap, coordinated by The Kohala Center and funded by a Hoohui O Waimea grant from the Hawaii Community Foundation, is open to everyone in the community.

Based on an traditional system of sharing among neighbors and ohana, the Swap will provide a gathering place for farmers, home gardeners, and local residents to exchange their surplus produce with one another.

The Swap will be held on a regular basis throughout the year, and will include workshops on various topics related to food production, such as seed saving or composting techniques, to encourage and enable families to grow more of their own food and incorporate healthy food choices into their diets.

To participate, community members simply bring surplus produce from their farm or garden to Malaai School Garden between 12:30-3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 16, to exchange with other community members in attendance.

Swap coordinators will facilitate exchanges by displaying and storing produce, helping participants determine fair exchange conditions, and collecting excess food at the end of the day for delivery to Waimea-based food pantries. No one will be turned away. If you don’t have produce to share, you can just lend a hand to participate.

For more information about the Swap, contact Nicole Milne at 987-9210 or via e-mail at nmilne@hawaii.edu.