Air1 Radio News

By Susan Miller You grew way too many tomatoes this year. Your zucchini went crazy. And what in world will you do with all those cucumbers? What if you could donate all your extra veggies? “The gardeners across America hate wasting food,” says Gary Oppenheimer founder of an innovative online matching service called AmpleHarvest.org. He is a lifelong gardener who once saw his own bountiful backyard as both a blessing and a curse. “I found out the hard way,” he laughs, “you can only give so much zucchini to friends and still call the them a friend.” So along with fellow growers he devised a solution: connect local backyard gardeners with food pantries, women’s shelters or feeding programs that would welcome fresh vegetables.