Garden Highway™, a Renaissance Food Group (RFG) brand, once again teamed up with Tessemae’s All Natural to deliver Crop Circles, a community event that features a pop-up style Farmers Market with a free produce giveaway at New Hope Academy in Baltimore, MD. The event took place on Saturday, November 21st, 2015 and gave away an estimated 40,000 LBS of commodity fruit and vegetables and 3,000 LBS of fresh-cut fruit and vegetables. An estimated 4,000 attendees came to collect donated fruit and vegetables in anticipation of the Thanksgiving holiday.
Crop Circles is a national event designed to bring fresh fruit and vegetables and an awareness of living a healthy life to food deserts across America. This is the third of its kind this year, following two successful events in Compton, CA and Englewood, Chicago, IL, respectively.
Attendees stood in line to receive a complimentary tote to fill with a variety of fruit and vegetables. In addition to healthy produce, Garden Highway™ handed out their brand of cut fruit and vegetables, Tessemae’s distributed bottles of clean salad dressing and marinade, and the event included a variety of booths that featured wellness-based companies, an appearance by NFL star Ed Reed, a competition-style cook-off, and a live DJ.
United Fresh Produce Association also sent a team of volunteers who were instrumental in handing out produce and educating Crop Circle attendees about the importance of living a healthy lifestyle.
F&S Produce Company, Inc., a regional fresh-cut processor based in Rosenhayn, NJ, helped to secure 40,000 LBS of donated produce, as well as donate transportation for all product, and provide volunteers to support the event.
“Heading into our third Crop Circles event, we have seen the increasing need for fresh fruit and vegetables in ‘food desert’ communities. Our goal is to help residents in these communities understand the importance of living healthy lifestyles,” said Nelia Alamo, RFG Director of Marketing. “Crop Circles is dedicated to making a positive impact and bringing a healthy food and lifestyle awareness to the food desert communities we serve with this great event.”
