37,000 Pounds of Purpose

November/December Beans for Bags Spotlight: Food Bank Growers

Food Bank Growers (FBG) is best known by our website - FoodBankGrowers.org (a separate organization from the Jefferson County Food Bank Association).

For over 12 years, the Food Bank Growers have served the JCFBA and other non-profits. Besides growing produce, we capture best practices and share them with others through volunteer experience, our website, and Facebook pages. By documenting our pounds and varieties, we know that a plot at the Quimper Grange garden produced 100 more pounds of food by raising the bed a foot and creating well-drained soil. So far in 2025 we have grown over 22,000 pounds from 11 plots of about 2 acres when added together. Our partner, the PT Gleaners, have brought in an additional 15,000 pounds this year. 

In 2026, our biggest challenge going forward is water. While the beds are over-saturated in the winter months, in the summer we need to pay for water and put in irrigation systems to keep water expenses low and its use effective. We will also be concentrating on regenerative farming including saving seeds or buying regional varieties that do well in the region; preparing us for the time when Climate Change hits our corner as hard as it has hit other food growing sectors in the US.  

Besides training volunteers, we also are going back to our educational roots by working with the Salish Coast Teaching Garden and Production Farm, and Port Townsend High School Culinary and Production Garden, and the Blue Heron Orchard. All plots are influencing the next generation of backyard farmers and by proxy, their families via their "living" food banks and orchards. They teach students and provide produce for 720 meals a day. 

Our sincere thanks to all our volunteers and for the donations that make these gardens grow.