AmpleHarvest.org

Connecting gardeners with food pantries to end food waste and hunger. Get your garden food news here:

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

Today, https://t.co/lou7zIZMPk turns 17. 🌱 Over the next 17 hours, we're sharing 17 facts about what we've built together — and why a simple idea born in a backyard garden is still changing lives across all 50 states. Stay with us. 💚 #PlantForHunger https://t.co/lou7zIZMPk

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

Your mayor wants to fight hunger. You can show them how — for free.
A zero-cost toolkit helps local officials connect pantries with fresh produce. No new programs. No new funding. Just results.
5,600+ communities are already in. Is yours?
👉 https://t.co/tsAlVqq2zW

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

Your hunger row is in the ground. Now what? 🌱 Our June newsletter covers early donations, key dates, and how to grow through summer into #HarvestForHunger.
https://t.co/QDetLBYAZN
#PlantForHunger #HungerAwareness

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

FACT #16 + #17 #16: None of this works without YOU — the gardeners, pantry directors, volunteers, partners, and supporters who believed a backyard could feed a neighborhood. #17: The best is still ahead. Here's to the next harvest. 🌱💚

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

FACT #16 + #17

#16: None of this works without YOU — the gardeners, pantry directors, volunteers, partners, and supporters who believed a backyard could feed a neighborhood.

#17: The best is still ahead.

Thanks for celebrating 17 years with us! Here's to the next harvest.🌱💚

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

Today, https://t.co/lou7zIZMPk turns 17. 🌱 Over the next 17 hours, we're sharing 17 facts about what we've built together — and why a simple idea born in a backyard garden is still changing lives across all 50 states. Stay with us. 💚 #PlantForHunger https://t.co/lou7zIZMPk

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

FACT #15

17 years in, our goal is still the same: connect every home gardener in America to a food pantry that wants their harvest.

We're at 8,500+ pantries. We're aiming for more.

If your pantry isn't registered yet — sign up today https://t.co/mzv1ezysam

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

FACT #14

The most important thing we've ever built isn't a campaign or a partnership.

It's a search box.

Go to https://t.co/lou7zIZMPk, enter your zip code, and find a registered food pantry near you — ready to accept your fresh produce today.

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

FACT #13

17 years ago, Gary didn't set out to build a national nonprofit.

He just wanted to donate his extra tomatoes.

What he built instead was a movement — proof that one frustrated gardener with a good idea can change how a country thinks about food, waste, and generosity.

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

FACT #12

We don't fight hunger alone.

Our partnership with @BonniePlants puts the hunger row message right where gardeners are making decisions — at the garden center, in the moment of purchase.

Thank you, Bonnie Plants, for growing with us.

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

FACT #11: Every April, https://t.co/lou7zIZMPk leads Plant for Hunger Month. Every August we donate what we grew. Plant for Hunger Month → Harvest for Hunger Month. Seeds in the ground become food on the table. 🌱🗓️ #PlantForHunger #HarvestForHunger

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

FACT #10

https://t.co/lou7zIZMPk doesn't move food. We make connections.

We put the gardener who has too much zucchini in touch with the pantry that has none — and let community do the rest.

That's the whole model. Simple. Powerful. Replicable anywhere.

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

FACT #9

Food waste is a climate issue.

When veggies rot in landfills, they release methane — a potent greenhouse gas.

When veggies go to a food pantry instead, they feed people AND reduce emissions.

Growing for hunger is also growing for the planet. 🌍 #EarthDay

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

FACT #7

8,500+ food pantries have registered with https://t.co/lou7zIZMPk — signaling to gardeners in their community: we welcome your fresh produce.

That act of registration is itself a statement: our neighbors deserve fresh food.

Thank you to every pantry in our network.

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

FACT #8

North Dakota. Hawaii. Alaska. Rhode Island.

https://t.co/lou7zIZMPk now has registered pantries in every single U.S. state.

Hunger doesn't respect geography. That's why we're building connections nationwide. 🇺🇸

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

FACT #6

The gardeners in our network are your neighbors- retirees, kids, weekend hobbyists, community gardeners. People with a plot of backyard dirt and a generous heart.

Anyone who grows food can fight hunger. And millions do.

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

FACT #5

One idea changed everything: give away the surplus.

The perfectly good harvest that gardeners can’t keep up with can go to the local food pantry.

17 years later, that simple concept has redirected enormous amounts of food from backyard compost bins to families in need.

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

FACT #4

Food pantries are often stocked with canned goods. What they rarely have — and what families crave — is fresh produce.

A bag of homegrown tomatoes, a bunch of kale, a basket of green beans. These aren't luxuries. They're dignity.

Your garden can provide them.

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

FACT #3 Every year, American home gardeners grow BILLIONS of pounds of surplus produce. A lot of it rots. Meanwhile, millions of families rely on food pantries — and those pantries almost never receive fresh vegetables. https://t.co/lou7zIZMPk exists to close that gap.

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

FACT #2 What began as one gardener's problem is now a national solution. https://t.co/lou7zIZMPk now connects home gardeners to 8,900+ registered food pantries in 5,700+ communities — in all 50 states. Every state. Every community. Every harvest.

[AmpleHarvest.org @AmpleHarvest]

FACT #1 In 2009, our founder Gary Oppenheimer had more garden produce than he could use and couldn't find a local food pantry to donate it to. That frustration became https://t.co/lou7zIZMPk. Sometimes the biggest ideas start with a single vegetable.