Full Plates: A Culinary Revolution from the Garden
Jill (not her real name) and her family joined Marion Polk Food Share’s Farm Share Rx program following a dietician’s advice to add more vegetables into their diet to improve her daughter’s health.
Each week throughout the summer and early fall, Jill’s family receives a box of fresh produce, grown and harvested by dedicated student volunteers at the Food Share’s Youth Farm. The boxes are prescribed by healthcare providers to patients of partner clinics in Salem and Grand Ronde. Jill reflects on the program’s impact, saying, “It’s putting more and more vegetables in everything we do.”
The family’s commitment to zero waste sparked a culinary revolution in their home. Every box of produce inspired a new adventure in cooking, transforming their kitchen into a hub of creativity and joy. An inventive example was their ‘Monster Juice,’ a delightful smoothie made from beets and spinach.
Encouraged by their culinary experiments, they started their own garden, which soon became a living catalog of their favorite recipes. Jill shares their gardening success with enthusiasm. “We’ve grown things like cabbage and some different kinds of bell peppers,” she says.
As their garden thrived, so did Jill’s community ties. She regularly shared the garden’s bounty with her neighbors, deepening connections and fostering a local culture of care and compassion.
This outreach also reflected the growth within her own family. Jill highlighted the multigenerational impact, noting, “It’s not just one person affected; it’s my daughter, me, and my parents, sharing our love of gardening across three generations.”
Their story, deeply personal yet universally resonant, exemplifies Marion Polk Food Share’s mission to bring people together to end hunger and its root causes. Their journey is a vivid illustration of how food can be both a fundamental need and a source of joy and unity.
Reflecting on the journey, Jill muses, “without this program, we would never have discovered our love for salsa, bok choy, and the myriad other vegetables we now enjoy.”
We extend our heartfelt thanks to the volunteers, financial supporters, and team members whose dedication and generosity make these life-changing experiences possible for families like Jill’s.
