What is Plant a Row for the Hungry?  Plant A Row for the Hungry is a people-helping-people program to help feed the hungry in local neighborhoods and communities. Launched in 1995 by the Garden Writers Association (GWA), Plant A Row encourages gardeners to grow a little extra and donate the produce to local soup kitchens and food pantries serving the homeless and hungry.

2010 - The Need is Great  In 2007, the USDA reported that 36 million people, including 13.9 million children, live in households that experience hunger or the risk of hunger daily. That is 1 in 8 Americans. PAR's mission is to provide an avenue through which individuals, corporations and over 84 million gardening households in the U.S. can help America's most vulnerable citizens and the food agencies serving them.  We know that in 2009/2010 with the current financial crisis and job reductions, the need has escalated far beyond anything previously anticipated.

The GroGood Pledge  Plant a Row for the Hungry has joined with Scotts Miracle-Gro and Feeding America to ask Americans to take the GroGood pledge and grow a garden for the greater good.  Here's the plan: Scotts Miracle-Gro will donate one million pounds of produce to help feed those at risk for hunger. We are asking Americans to join us and help double that donation by adding a row for those in need and donating the extra harvest to a local food agency, soup kitchen or hunger relief organization. 

Take the pledge and donate whatever you can. If 40,000 people donate 25 pounds of produce - roughly the equivalent of one full grocery bag - we'd hit our goal. A single cucumber plant can yield up to 15-20 cucumbers.  A single bell pepper plant can yield 6-8 peppers. It's easier than you think.  Nothing beats the taste and nutrition of freshpicked vegetables. Growing and eating from your own garden can improve your health, save you money, increase your sustainability, and decrease your carbon footprint. And most important, your garden can help a lot of people in need. By donating produce directly to the food agencies, gardeners help organizations stretch their meager resources. We will continue posting below collection/drop-off information as it becomes available.