Past Initiatives
Community Harvest Project
This is a Sustainable Food Systems Network partnership project with the State College Food Bank. Established in 2018, the mission of Community Harvest is to harvest surplus produce from area farms and distribute it to food pantries and other emergency food providers across Centre County. Key partners include the State College Food Bank, Meals on Wheels, Food Bank Farm and the Penn State Horticulture Farm, as well as several area farms
Learn how you can volunteer to help support this initiative on the Community Harvest Project website.
You can also read about the experience that Katrina Weakland, 2017-18 Food Systems AmeriCorps member, had with this project here.
Community Gardens
Beginning in 2018, we have partnered with Centre Moves and area Community Gardens to host events that help to support gardeners of all kinds, and promote the community gardens located throughout the State College area.
In both 2018 and 2019 we helped plan and lead a Community Seed Swap event. The Centre Daily Times covered the 2019 event in this great article. Additionally, in April 2019 we helped plan a Beginning Gardeners Workshop at the Community Garden at Penn State. Our AmeriCorps members and students were on hand to demonstrate how to start seeds indoors. The event was well-attended, and we look forward to continue growing this partnership!
Home Grown Project
Beginning in 2017, the Student Farm partnered with Master Gardeners’ Home Grown Project to provide vegetable plants for food bank clients to improve food security in Centre County. The Student Farm provided the PSU greenhouse space and student labor to grow a variety of tomatoes and peppers for distribution at local Food Banks across Centre County.
Each year, the project spans from March, with seed starting by Student Farm Club members and Master Gardeners, continuing through June for distribution. The project was expanded in 2018 to include growing more plants and distributing seedlings at more pantries. In 2019, we grew and distributed more than 700 seedlings!
