Salem Harvest event yields record amount of squash

The volunteers from Salem Harvest set a hefty goal for their Saturday event: 90,000 pounds of butternut squash to send to food pantries across Oregon and Washington.

On Saturday afternoon, however, that goal didn't seem far out of reach as tractors hauled loads of 8,000 pounds through muddy fields to Marion-Polk Food Share trucks.

About 100 volunteers worked six shifts Saturday at Stafford Family Farms in Aumsville to harvest the squash so local and state-wide food banks could give it to families in need.

Elise Bauman, president of Salem Harvest, said that Saturday's event was a first in several respects.

"First in volume," Bauman said. "Our largest harvest up to this point was 14,000 to 16,000 pounds of zucchini squash."

This event was expected to yield more than five times that much. Not only were volunteers going to pick 90,000 pounds of squash on Saturday, but the farm will have an estimated 90,000 pounds left in the field for future picking.

"It looks like it'll be the largest we've done," said Dick Yates from the Marion-Polk Food Share board of directors.

Saturday's event was also unique because of the teamwork involved. Salem Harvest and the food share teamed up with the Oregon Food Bank, Rotary First Harvest and National Frozen Foods to ensure that the food reached more hungry families than usual.

As the Food Share aims to distribute fresh food to their clients, Salem Harvest events are somewhat of a race against the clock to gather food that will not be used by the farmers before it goes bad in the fields.

The small window of time "adds to the challenge," Yates said.

Salem Harvest events normally benefit the communities of Marion and Polk counties, but due to involvement from other organizations, a large portion of the vegetables would not be loaded in the Marion-Polk Food Share crates, but left at the farm ready to get picked up and distributed by the Oregon Food Bank.

Fortunately, butternut squash keeps for longer than other vegetables because it does not need to be stored in a cold environment. With proper picking and no bruising or cuts, it can often stay in unheated storage for two to three months and be "just as good as the day you picked it," Bauman said.

Usually the donating farms are hands-off during these events, Bauman said, but Stafford Farms lent volunteers to the event to drive tractors.

On Saturday a number of farm employees worked side-by-side with the volunteers, picking the squash, placing it in crates and hauling it across the fields.

"It has turned out to be really easy," said Karl Stafford of Stafford Farms. "We like giving to people who don't have much instead of letting it go to waste."

Fred Dalzell said he and his wife have volunteered with Salem Harvest for a couple years.

"It's nice to contribute to the community," he said. "We end up doing things like this to help."

Bauman admitted that harvest squash, because of how much each item weighs, can be back-breaking work. But it was for a cause that would benefit many.

"There are hungry people out there and it needs to be in their hands," Bauman said.

jdewitt@StatesmanJournal.com, (503) 399-6714 or follow on Twitter.com @Joce_DeWitt