Celebrate Citrus Season: Feed Families, Not Landfills

The citrus season is in full swing. If you've never celebrated citrus season before, you're missing out. You can start with this game: as you travel around Tucson, search for citrus. How many different types of citrus can you find? How many of those citrus trees will be used to their full potential?

People all over Tucson struggle to feed their families. Though we know others live in poverty and hunger, we don't often think we can help them much. We might donate a few dollars or a few cans, but otherwise we simply give them our well wishes maybe donate some canned goods-all while passing by our neighbor's citrus tree, heavy with unused fruit. Maybe getting involved in addressing food insecurity could be easier than we thought.

Look within your own community-be it your place of worship, your sports club, your workplace, or your social or philanthropic club. Survey your members: does anyone have more fruit than they can use? What about the rest of your neighborhood, your families, and your friends? Perhaps they would like to give their fruit away but simply do not know where to take it or do not have the ability or time to pick it themselves.

What if your group celebrated citrus season by coming together to harvest fruit so it could be given to the food insecure- those who do not know where tomorrow's food comes from, instead of rotting on the tree or ground? Not only can we feed families, we can do it with local and natural food resources that might otherwise go to waste. Why buy Florida oranges when we can pick Tucson oranges ourselves? Better yet, you won't need to buy any harvesting equipment: Iskashitaa can provide bins and pole pickers to groups interested in celebrating citrus season- The Gift of Giving.

What are we waiting for? Let's celebrate citrus season by joining together to feed families instead of landfills. Contact Iskashitaa today for more information or help getting started with your local harvest with people you know!

Stephanie Plotas

Faith Based Liaison

Tel. 520-440-0100

Call for Iskashitaa MOMs!

Iskashitaa is looking for new MOMs! MOM stands for Market on the Move, which aims to rescue millions of pounds of fresh produce from going to waste every year in Nogales landfills. MOM collects unwanted produce from produce brokers and then distributes that produce in Tucson and Phoenix.

Market on the Move occurs from 8am-noon every Saturday at various host sites around Tucson. Supporters can visit MOM regularly to give a $10 donation and receive up to 60 pounds of fresh produce. Donations can be made at the host site, so there is no need to pre-register or pre-donate online.

If your household cannot use all 60 pounds of fresh produce, you can become an Iskashitaa MOM! Help feed families instead of landfills and donate the excess produce to Iskashitaa. We will then distribute the produce to refugee families throughout Tucson.

To donate your produce, email us at volunteer@iskashitaa.org, or call our office at 520-440-0100. We will schedule a time for you to drop off the produce at our office on Grant Rd.

Thank you for joining in our mission to leave no fruit behind!

Click here to learn more about Market on the Move.  

Click here to learn more about Market on the Move's mission statement. 

Click here to see the locations for Market on the Move in Tucson. 

The Underappreciated Amaranth

Iskashitaa's Development Director, Natalie Brown, recently wrote an article which was featured in the Edible Baja Arizona magazine. The article focuses on amaranth, which is a valuable food resource for many refugees, but one that is commonly considered a weed by native Tucsonans. Read the article to learn more about this underappreciated plant and how it has factored into the lives of refugees living in Tucson.

Click here to read Natalie's article, The Underappreciated Amaranth!

Q & A with Stephanie Plotas -- General Board of Global Ministries

Yesterday an article was released featuring Iskashitaa's US-2, Stephanie Plotas. The US-2 program is a two year young adult mission service program through the United Methodist Church, and Stephanie will be with Iskashitaa through this program until July 2015.

The article is currently on the front page of the United Methodist Church's missions website, umcmission.org. In the article, Stephanie talks about why she became a young adult missionary, what she does at Iskashitaa, and the types of challenges refugees face.

Click here to read the Q & A with Stephanie!