TEMPE, Ariz. — An alarming number of Arizonans are impacted by food insecurity. In fact, it's one in six, from children to seniors, that's why one local food pantry not only seeks to provide but also partners with a community garden to ensure families in need have nutritional options.
The Escalante Garden takes great pride in growing fruits and vegetables that feed some of our most vulnerable.
The garden is off the Loop 101 and University Drive and the sole priority of the food pantry is sustainability and stopping the hunger. Both venues are overseen and operated by the Tempe Community Action Agency.
Deborah Arteaga with the TCAA shared the impact the garden and pantry have had on the community for decades.
"We started in this neighborhood in the 1960s, it's the largest of its kind, as we look to feed roughly 30,000 adults and children within the East Valley," she explained.
From bagged snacks to full-blown meals, the Escalante Garden gives much-needed food to many local families. Even, delivering food boxes to college campuses and senior centers.
"Food nourishes lives and helps people be more productive in work and school and ultimately during the aging process it impacts quality of life," she added.
Their mission is built with sustainability in mind.
"The garden is important because not at food donated to the pantry can be distributed, so the food that can't be, we bring it here and compost it and use it to grow more food."
The group goes above and beyond gardening by also going store to store to save otherwise wasted products, through their food rescue program.
While the need is constant, on Sept. 6 it's National Food Bank Day, an important moment to recognize the life-saving food, supplies and resources that food banks provide our community members.
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