NOLA Fruit Tree Project Harvests, Donates Excess Fruit

Are you one of the many people in town who have a citrus tree in your yard and no idea what to do with all those satsumas, grapefruits, key limes or whatever? There's a non-profit called New Orleans Fruit Tree Project that will take them off your hands, and they've gotten some national love for the good works they're doing. Created by Hollygrove Market and modeled off a similar program in Portland, Oregon, the Fruit Tree Project harvests excess fruit from people who don't know what to do with it and donates it to the Second Harvest Food Bank.

Per the Atlantic:

Volunteers drop off the collected food three times a week at Second Harvest Food Bank, the primary food bank for the greater New Orleans area, and, in 2005, declared the largest food bank in the world. Last year's harvests saved over 2,500 pounds of fruit, which then contributed to the larger meal boxes that Second Harvest distributes to local families.

They currently have about 30 registered fruit trees, with some trees yielding as much as 500 pounds of fruit. Not bad at all. They're currently working to spread the word about the Project, so if you've got a tree with too much fruit you can go to their site and register it for harvest.

· Oranges for All! The Project That Brings Produce to People in Need [Atlantic]
· NOLA Fruit Tree Project [Official Site]

Hollygrove Market & Farm

8301 Olive St., New Orleans, LA