MONTROSE -- The Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture started the PASS program, which stands for Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System. The program is meant to reward farmers who move surplus food into food banks and to those who need it.
"Fresh food is a premium," said Lynn Senick, who runs the TREHAB Food Bank in the Montrose area. "It's very expensive in the stores and if it's winter time and we have a long winter, then fresh food are not readily available, so people are really happy when we have it. It's a big nutrition boost."
Right now, Senick relies on donations from the local Price Chopper as well as private donations and garden at the food bank for fresh produce. TREHAB serves nearly 500 families across Susquehanna County every month.
"We'd be helping out people who actually don't get fresh produce," said Debbie Russell of Montrose Produce. "We'd now have a use for the apples we really couldn't use."
Russell is one of those potential farmers that could join the program. In addition to the Montrose Produce store, she also owns a family farm and orchard near the New York state border in Brackney.
"We try to get as many people as possible to pick all the apples, but what's left over, I guess that's for the animals," she added.
For those farmers interested in participating in the program, you can contact the department's Bureau of Food Distribution at 1-800-468-2433.
