Order a Thanksgiving box from Farm Fresh RI for the ease. Donate one to feel good.
Picture this: a Thanksgiving dinner that doesn't require you to fight for a parking spot at your local grocery store the week before the big holiday and then go inside to pick from vegetables wrapped in plastic and shipped hundreds of miles to the store.
Instead, think cranberry sauce made by the youths at Harvest Kitchen in Pawtucket. Potatoes, onions and delicata squash grown and harvested from Schartner Farms' fields in Exeter. Pumpkin pies baked at Wright's Dairy Farm & Bakery in North Smithfield.
That, plus Thanksgiving vegetables and goodies from six other Rhode Island and Massachusetts farms, is what Farm Fresh RI, a nonprofit that promotes farm viability and low-income access to fresh food, is offering this year, all packed up in one convenient box to be picked up just before the holiday. The only things you'll still have to get are a turkey, stuffing, butter and maybe some beverage options.
And, new this year, for people who want to invest in the spirit of the Thanksgiving season, there's an option to donate one of the Thanksgiving Produce and Pie boxes to a family in need when you place your order.
"We know that food insecurity is at an all-time high, and we also know how generous the community is in Providence and Rhode Island," said Farm Fresh RI Director of Giving Nikki Ayres. Creating a situation where people could order their own meal, increase their support of local farmers and help another family have a special holiday "felt like a huge win for everybody."
The Rhode Island Community Food Bank's 2022 status report showed food insecurity is now at 31%, the highest it has been in years and triple the level recorded in 2017.
What's in the Thanksgiving Produce and Pie Box
In its third year, the Farm Fresh RI Thanksgiving box has sold out every year. To have enough boxes to donate, this year the organization has doubled the amount it's purchasing from local farmers. There is enough food for six to eight people in each box.
As of Nov. 2, Ayres said there are about 200 spots left for this year's orders.
In the box, people will find:
Pumpkin pie from Wright's Dairy Farm & Bakery in North Smithfield
Brussels sprouts from Ward's Berry Farm in Sharon, Massachusetts
Carrots and parsnips from Four Town Farm in Seekonk, Massachusetts
Celery from Kitchen Garden Farm in Sunderland, Massachusetts
Cranberry sauce made by Harvest Kitchen in Pawtucket
Delicata squash, onions, sweet potatoes and white potatoes from Schartner Farms in Exeter
Butternut squash from Ferolbink Farm in Tiverton
Fresh herbs from Allen Farms in Westport, Massachusetts
Leeks and shallots from Zephyr Farm in Cranston
Whole baby portabella mushrooms from RI Mushroom Co. in West Kingston
Where is the donation going?
This year, Ayres said the plan is to donate food boxes to the Coventry Community Food Bank.
"They've been a partner of ours for the past few years, and they actually ran out of funding recently to be able to purchase local food from us," she said. "We knew that they were going to have a need during this time of the year to get fresh and local food, and we thought that they would be a great recipient."
The goal is to donate 250 boxes, which would feed about 2,000 people.
Food Insecurity: More RI families are going hungry. Will free school meals make a comeback next session?
When is the deadline for ordering a box? What does it cost?
The deadline for ordering a box is Friday, Nov. 10 – an extension of the original deadline of Monday, Nov. 6 – or until boxes last.
The boxes are $85 each, either for purchasing for yourself or for donating. The boxes can be purchased at farmfreshri.org/thanksgiving.
Pickup will be Tuesday, Nov. 21, or Wednesday, Nov. 22, at Farm Fresh RI, 10 Sims Ave. in Providence from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Farm Fresh RI Thanksgiving boxes support local farmers and give back
