Last summer 2020, about 50 families in Larchmont and Mamaroneck planted victory gardens and raised 300 pounds of herbs and vegetables for the Larchmont-Mamaroneck Hunger Task Force (LMHTF). Together the gardens created a kind of suburban collective farm that produced healthy food for our neighbors in need.
By March 2021, participation in Victory Farms at the Grange – founded by local resident Lisa Chase – had more than doubled from the previous summer and expanded beyond households. More than 120 families, churches, schools, municipal plots, and libraries are participating this year. They have been contributing fresh vegetables and herbs to LMHTF since end of June 2021. All four elementary schools in the Mamaroneck School District are part of this community effort as compared to one school in summer 2020.
A wide variety of vegetables and herbs have been donated, including, kale, cucumbers, potatoes, spinach, rhubarb, fennel, beets, snap peas, sage, thyme, oregano, mint, basil and jalapeno, habanero, bell, serrano, and banana peppers.
Ninety percent of the produce being donated was gone in 15 minutes with the rest of it gone within the hour. The people who received the produce kept asking, "Who grew this?" and marveled when they were told it was the local community.
In addition to Lisa Chase, thanks goes out to Sarah Coady, Carolyn Lee, Malcolm Frouman, and Perri McKinney.
