Greenhouse competitions return after missed year due to pandemic

On June 9, R.E.A.CH. International brought back its annual Greenhouse Competitions, including The Hottest Tomato, The Perfect Pepper, The Coolest Cucumber and the Sweetest Strawberry competitions. After cancelling the competitions in 2020 due the pandemic, the local greenhouse industry and R.E.A.CH. charity volunteers were thrilled the competitions were brought back, redesigned to be contactless to protect the contestants, volunteers and judges.

Considering the massive crop losses and challenges faced due to the pandemic, greenhouse industry growers and marketers still entered 125 products into the competitions, just 25 less than the last event, held in 2019. R.E.A.CH. also collected over 3,000 pounds of produce donations from each contestant to donate locally to the Gleaners and to local food banks.

These unique competitions that have been running since 2007 celebrate Essex County for being the largest greenhouse industry in North America. And the charity which runs the annual event uses the proceeds from the competition to sponsor over 50 children in Uganda, Africa, annually. These sponsorships give the children and teens food, school supplies, medicine, and everything else they need to get an education and break the cycle of poverty.

A Very Different Kind of Charity: You wouldn’t naturally associate greenhouses with international child sponsorships but that’s exactly what has happened. R.E.A.CH. International, the Canadian registered child-sponsorship charity, run completely by local volunteers, has been hosting an annual event that both celebrates our local Greenhouse Fame while sponsoring some of the poorest children and families in the world. After many other charity scandals, people are often skeptical about what goes on in charities, which is why R.E.A.CH. International is so intriguing. With no staff taking salaries, the charity is one of the very few that can guarantee that 100% of donated funds will be used for the intended purposes.

The Greenhouse Competitions, presented in part by Nature Fresh Farms, started on Wednesday morning. Produce was delivered to Kingsville Community Centre to be numbered and sorted by volunteers and then delivered to 30 judges across Essex County. Once judges received their package of produce, it was time to evaluate and enter scores into a secured online database. These expert judges from the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Affairs (OMAFRA), grocery store produce managers, Culinary Guild of Windsor Chefs, and many others, judged the entries with a specialized list of criteria developed by head judge Shalin Khosla.

The awards ceremony was broadcast as a live stream at 3 p.m. June 11, produced by Wolting Photography. To watch the recording of the award ceremony visit greenhousecompetitions.com. As per safety requirements, the winners were delivered their beautiful crystal trophies and, of course, the bragging rights as the best producers in North America. Photos of the winners receiving their awards can be found at the website.

This year’s event will sponsor another 50 children and teens to attend school, meet medical, clothing or housing needs in Uganda, Africa, the third poorest nation in the world. And with the additional donations, as every year, R.E.A.CH. was able to continue to partner with and support the efforts of local charities who help our community.

To become involved in this small but highly impactful charity, visit reaching.org.

And the 2021 Winners in the Greenhouse Capital of North America are: