Federal program gets produce from fields to tables during pandemic

The $3 billion Farmers to Families Program uses federal coronavirus relief money to purchase produce from farmers and package it in boxes that food banks and nonprofits can distribute to families.

When the pandemic shut down restaurants, hotels and schools, farmers had a hard time finding buyers for all of the food they produce. Distributors had to lay people off, while grocery store shelves were bare.

Perdue said there has been plenty of food throughout the crisis; there just wasn't a way to get it to people.

"I don’t know that I realized that about half the food we consume is outside the home," Perdue said. "We had two tracks of processing and delivery logistics, and when one stops, it’s like a four-lane highway when two lanes get shut down. You know what happens, it gets backed up."

Baptists on Mission collected about 500 boxes of local produce at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church outside Creedmoor on Monday to distribute to nonprofits and churches, such as Island Creek Baptist Church in Henderson, where Pastor Johnny Yount and his volunteers deliver it the last mile.

"To a waitress who hasn’t worked in a while, to a grandmother who is raising her grandson, this provides not just food to put upon a table, it provides hope," Yount said.

"We get to see individuals drive through with tears in their eyes and smiles on their faces," he said. "They know that, today, they can be concerned about something else."