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South Apopka

Farm Share distributing food to South Apopka residents

The drive-thru event is at the John Bridges Community Center this Friday

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Farm Share, one of Florida’s leading food nonprofit organizations and the state’s largest food bank, is distributing food to food-insecure residents of South Apopka. Recipients will receive fresh produce and non-perishable canned goods. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, distributions are drive-thru only to minimize contact and to help ensure the safety of all parties, and attendees must wear a mask and arrive in a vehicle with a trunk or cargo bed. The Apopka Area Concerned Citizens Council is a sponsor of the event.

Parts of South Apopka have been classified as a food desert, and many of its residents are food-insecure.

In 2020, an estimated 1 in 8 Americans were food insecure, equating to over 38 million Americans, including almost 12 million children. The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as a lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life.

Simply put, a food desert is an area without grocery stores, which like many other businesses study the demographics of an area before deciding where to open a store. Impoverished areas in America don’t meet the predetermined demographic criteria for grocery stores to invest in building a location there. As a result, residents of these neglected neighborhoods only have access to small community stores that typically specialize in selling alcohol and junk food.

With more than 3.9 million families suffering from food insecurity throughout Florida, Farm Share meets the everyday hunger needs of Floridians by working hand-in-hand with local farmers to recover and redistribute produce that would otherwise be thrown away due to aesthetic imperfections. 

Farm Share currently serves all 67 counties in Florida. Since its inception, Farm Share has distributed more than 751 million pounds of food, with a value of more than 1.9 billion dollars. In 2020 alone, Farm Share distributed more than 104 million pounds of food and served more than 86 million meals to Floridians. For more information about Farm Share, visit FarmShare.org

Apopka Area Concerned Citizens Council, Apopka, South Apopka, John Bridges Community Center, Farm Share, Food Desert, Food Insecurity

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