“PASS” IT ON: PA FARMERS FEED THEIR NEIGHBORS AND IMPROVE THEIR BOTTOM LINES

Created in 2010 under the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture (PDA), the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System (PASS) serves its state’s farmers and those most in need of access to health food through a program enabling the food industry to safely and efficiently donate, sell or otherwise provide food products to Pennsylvania’s charitable food organizations. PASS funds help to support Pennsylvania’s agricultural industry statewide – making connections between production agriculture and the non-profit sector responsible for making food available to those in need. PASS provides an alternative market for many farmers and food producers in the Commonwealth that currently have no outlet for safe, but somewhat inferior quality product. Without PASS, this product would otherwise be left in the field, be plowed under, or be landfilled. Producers, packers, and processors are reimbursed for costs involved in harvesting, processing, and/or packaging donated product.

From April 2016 through April 2019, nearly 10 million pounds of food was distributed through the PASS program to all 67 counties in the Commonwealth. Sixty different Pennsylvania produced products have been sourced from 126 farmers, processors, and growers located in 42 counties across the commonwealth. These products include: apples, broccoli, butter, cabbage, cheese, chicken, corn, eggs, green beans, ground beef, lettuce, milk, peaches, potatoes, squash, tomatoes, yogurt, and zucchini. Of the distributions, 1 million pounds have been dairy products (milk, butter, cheese, cottage cheese, and yogurt). This includes the equivalent of 19 tankers of raw milk that would have otherwise been dumped that were donated and processed into block cheese. The total value of the product distributed, as of the end of April 2019, is $3,570,324.

Thank you to Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture for contributing this story.