Students from five Chester County schools learned recently how to stretch food dollars to purchase nutritious fare while also working to alleviate hunger in their communities during the Farm Bureau’s annual Food Check-Out Week.
Susan Rzucidlo, a co-owner of Silent Z Farm Inc., developed and organized the program for the second year, the Farm Bureau said. She connected student groups with area food cupboards and agriculture. Each group was given $100 to spend at a supermarket to purchase food items needed by the Chester County Food Bank. Students had to compare prices and use coupons. The total dollars saved by careful selection of brands and items allowed students to purchase up to $160 worth of food for the $100 they had to spend.
Students then delivered the donations to the Food Cupboard nearest to them. They learned that “even if you are 12, you can make a difference to someone,” said a news release from the Farm Bureau, a voluntary organization that works to advance the interests of regional agriculture. The schools — Kennett Middle and High School, Oxford’s Penn’s Grove Middle School, Unionville’s Charles F. Patton Middle School, and Octorara High School — also held food drives.
At a ceremony in the county commissioners’ office last week, Commissioners Kathi Cozzone and Ryan Costello praised the students’ efforts, reminding the audience that one in eight people go hungry during some part of the month in Chester County, one of the wealthiest counties in Pennsylvania and the 24th wealthiest in the nation. Agriculture is the top industry in Chester County, second of all counties in farm sales revenue in Pennsylvania. The Farm Bureau and the students invite everyone to locate a food cupboard near them and take food or a donation to continue to help neighbors in need. Peanut butter, tuna, beans, cereals and rice are in great demand right now.
-author, Kathleen Brady Shea
