Oct 10, 2016
Shoreline Fruit donates cherries to Feeding America of West Michigan

Shoreline Fruit has donated 40,000 pounds of tart Montmorency cherries to Feeding America of West Michigan.

Through a collaborative effort between Shoreline Fruit and its growers, over 50,000 pounds of fresh Montmorency cherries were converted into 40,000 pounds of individually quick frozen cherries to make the cherry donation possible.

“We are very pleased to make this contribution of our fruit to Feeding America of West Michigan.” said Don Gregory, grower and board member at Shoreline Fruit.

The domestic tart cherry production jumped nearly 40 percent in 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Due to the size of this year’s tart cherry harvest, processors were restricted on marketing 29 percent of their available fruit from growers. The industry chooses to operate under a Cherry Industry Administrative Board (CIAB) federal marketing order. The CIAB works with growers to establish annual quotas to safeguard tart cherry growers from widely-fluctuating prices and to help match supply with estimated demand. Processors can choose to maintain inventory reserves, sell excess into the export market, use some for product development or donate processed surplus cherries to charity.

“The decision to make this charitable donation allows us to comply with the 2016 CIAB quota while supporting a great organization that provides much needed food to families throughout West Michigan, including our five-county Grand Traverse region,” said Shoreline grower, Bruce Veliquette from Elk Rapids, Michigan.

Katie Auwers, food sourcing specialist with Feeding America West Michigan said this donation from Shoreline Fruit and their growers is a great example of working together to help provide nutritious food to over 1,100 hunger-relief organizations in the 40-county service area for the West Michigan Food Bank.




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