LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Farmers are using a new Facebook group called SWFL Farm and Food Finder. it connects them with customers who are looking for fresh food grown locally, so it doesn’t go to waste.
It’s a win for everyone, as M.W. Horticulture employee Aara Sangermano explains.
“I see all these people posting on the community groups, and buy/sell pages on Facebook. They can’t find this, the grocery store’s out of that. And I’m like, but it’s available,” she said.
She started SWFL Farm and Food Finder earlier this week, and it already has more than 400 members. It came at the perfect time for Rosy King of Rosy Tomorrow’s Heritage Farm.
“We were named best restaurant in Fort Myers, and one week later we have COVID-19,” she said. “We’re not just a restaurant, we can’t just close our doors and turn out the lights. We have animals to feed and farm to care for.”
She decided to sell boxes of pre-prepped meals from her farm, and when she posted on the Facebook group, she said her boxes sold out in less than an hour.
Bert Hubbell of Hubbell Farms had to get creative when the pandemic hit, too.
“When this all happened, we couldn’t go to the senior living places anymore,” he said.
Hubbell’s partnered with Feeding Florida, which allows elderly and low income families to use their EBT to pay for his products. Feeding Florida covers half the cost. He’s still finding ways to make those deliveries at no cost.
Hubbell and.King can reach more thanks to Farm and Food Finder.
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