Shuman Farms staff ramp up volunteering

Reidsville, Ga.-based Shuman Farms staff members are spending June volunteering in the communities where their RealSweet Vidalia onions are sold.

With the help of their Feeding America RealSweet Vidalia onion bags this summer, Shuman Farms will provide 100,000 meals to those in need, according to a news release.

In 2021, more than 42 million people may experience food insecurity, including a potential 13 million children, according to Feeding America. Summer break is especially hard for children who rely on free or reduced lunches during the school year.

“At Shuman Farms, we believe it is our responsibility to be good stewards of what we have been given,” Shuman Farms president and CEO John Shuman said in the release. “Not only is it important to do this through our sustainability efforts, but also through how we give back locally and to the communities in which we do business. Our Feeding America program each June is an important part of that mission.”

Retailers that carry the Feeding America RealSweet Vidalia bags will also be provided with in-store signage, display bins and suggested social media posts to support the initiative and increase awareness of food insecurity in the U.S.

Throughout the month, Shuman Farms team members volunteered at the local Feeding America food bank, America’s Second Harvest of Coastal Georgia, packing close to 2,500 breakfast bags that were distributed to kids in need throughout communities in southeast Georgia.

Shuman Farms will also participate in the Healthy Family Project’s annual Produce for Kids’ retail campaigns in several retailers including Publix, AWG Springfield and Oklahoma banners, MDI banners, Rouses Markets, TOPS Friendly Markets and Stop & Shop.

In 2002, John Shuman founded Healthy Family Project, a cause-marketing organization dedicated to creating a healthier generation and giving back to families across the country. Since 2014, Healthy Family Project has partnered with Feeding America to give back to families and children who suffer from food insecurity.

“Healthy Family Project was founded in hopes for the produce industry to come together and give back to those in need,” Shuman said in the release. “Now, two decades later, Healthy Family Project and our partners have raised more than $7 million for charities across the U.S. including more than 12 million meals donated to Feeding America.”

The 2021 Produce for Kids campaigns will provide more than 1.3 million meals to more than 65 Feeding America food banks and thousands of food pantries across the U.S., according to the release.

Shuman Farms started shipping RealSweet brand Vidalia onions in April and plans to have good availability of quality Vidalia onions throughout the summer months until the transition to RealSweet premium sweet onions from Peru in September.