The last several months have been some of the most challenging our Island has ever seen. COVID-19 placed strains and challenges on Islanders from all walks of life, industries and organizations, not just here on the Island, but across the country and the world. To the health care workers, public health officials, front line retail, truck drivers and other industry staff – thank you! Each of these businesses, institutions and their staff are doing their part to help keep us safe during such an unprecedented time. And there is another group we can’t forget that looked after us during the recent COVID-19 shut down – our farmers, processors and their staff. At no point during this time did our farms slow down, did our processing facilities close or was our distribution of Island foods stopped. Our farming community stepped up and made sure we continued to have safe and healthy food for Islanders and beyond. Please take a moment to acknowledge and thank these people and all essential workers in your community.
Unfortunately, due to COVID-19 restrictions in place by the Province of PEI and Chief Public Health Officer, Heather Morrison, Farm and Food Care PEI’s annual Breakfast on the Farm event had to cancel their 2020 event at MacKenzie Produce in Stratford. Since we were unable to host our event, we wanted to find a way to help put food in the hands of islanders while supporting local farmers and business, so Farm & Food Care PEI has have teamed up with local producers and processors to be able to provide 3,000 free food packages filled with locally sourced items at two giveaway events this summer. Items in the package include: 1 litre carton of milk from ADL; 1 cabbage from MacKenzie Produce; and a 10 lb of PEI Potatoes from the PEI Potato Board, Eastern Farms Ltd and McCain Produce. For the Summerside Giveaway, there will also be a turnip in the food packages from Brookfield Gardens. We will be giving away 1,500 free food packages for this giveaway at each location including:
- Saturday, June 27th @ Pownal Sports Centre in Pownal from 9AM-1PM (or until packages run out)
- Saturday, July 4th @ Credit Union Place in Summerside from 9AM-1PM (or until packages run out)
These giveaways will be done in a drive-thru aspect with volunteers placing the packages in the trunks of vehicles and with drivers following the directions of the signs, volunteers and pylons. Drivers are asked to stay in their vehicles. This will provide everyone with a contact-less feel to keep everyone safe!
To all our partners, we are grateful for their support and contributions to these giveaways, especially to the local businesses who donated and supplied all the tasty island sourced food.
Thank you to our Partners! We couldn’t have done this without you!
Milk: ADL
10 lbs of potatoes: PEI Potato Board, Eastern Farms Ltd, McKenna Bros Ltd and McCain Produce
Cabbage: MacKenzie Produce
Turnip: Brookfield Gardens
Reusable Grocery Bags: Sobey’s, Egg Farmers of PEI and Farm Credit Canada
Locations: Pownal Sports Centre and Summerside Credit Union Place
Pylons, signs and flaggers: PEI Department of Transportation, Infrastructure and Energy
Forklifts: McQuaid’s Trucking and Warehousing; and DC Tire Sales and Service
Farming Equipment Display: Eastern Farms Ltd and Kensington Agricultural Services
Port-a-Pottie Services: KM Liquid Waste Removal
All our fantastic volunteers for assembling and distributing the food packages
Special thanks to the PEI Department of Health and Wellness, and the Chief Public Health Office for helping us in preparing a COVID-19 Operational Plan for these events