save the squash!

On Saturday morning, after a forty minute drive to Buckelew Farm, I stepped into the comfortable morning air to survey a seemingly endless field filled with pumpkins and native squashes. It was November 1st, the day after Halloween--AKA the day when pumpkins leave the minds of most Americans until next October.

But what about all those patches full pumpkins never picked? These nutritious, long-lasting food resources rot away while all over the US, people are struggling with hunger and food insecurity.
It is hard to comprehend the sheer scope of the waste. Right now I can't find any data to help us wrap our minds around the amount of pumpkins that go to waste each year. I did find that 1.4 billion pounds of pumpkins/squash are produced in the US each year--and how much of that do you think is leftover after Halloween? My guess is, a depressingly high amount.

For our harvesting crew, though, it was a beautiful day and we were in high-spirits as we rescued the most palatable, nutritious, and long-lasting squash from rotting away. We focused on varieties of squash less-known to most Americans while the Bhutanese with us scoured the field for the freshest pumpkin leaves.

We filled two pickup trucks and the back of the Iskashitaa cargo van with squash and pumpkins! 

Squash will be a fixture at the Iskashitaa office for the next six months since our only limit was the space in the vehicles we brought. I'm hoping to experiment with some recipes to see how I can better incorporate pumpkin into my diet, and to encourage my friends and family members to do so, too! 

I challenge you: call up some local pumpkin farms to see if they would be willing to donate any of their leftover pumpkins/squash, and take some back to your church, food bank, or nonprofit. Then try out some new recipes and see what you find. 

In the meantime, enjoy these pictures from our Saturday outing, taken from the Iskashitaa Facebook page! 

I had fun harvesting with my friends! Normally I only see them before/after harvests. 

An expansive field on a beautiful morning. 

These squash are incredibly heavy! I could only carry one at a time. 

We had a great sized group for our Saturday morning harvest! We had volunteers from Presybterian Campus Ministry, St. Thomas the Apostle Church, and the Young Adult Volunteers program.