• On Saturday, Dec. 2 the Free Produce and Health Resource Fair was held at Scottsdale Community College.

The fair was an event designed to give students and community members free access to healthy, fresh produce.

“Our mission today was to save over 20,000 pounds of produce from being thrown away in the landfill,” said faculty lead, Robert Martin.  “We did that by purchasing these foods and then boxing them and distributing them.”

The produce was purchased from Borderlands Produce Rescue, which is a non-profit organization based in Southern Arizona that buys completely fresh produce destined for the landfill and redistributes it to people who are in need.

Borderland’s goals are to help people to have a healthy diet while limiting food waste and methane production from landfills, according to their website.

Every individual who came to the event received a 35-pound box of fresh produce as well as recipes they could use to prepare meals.

The event makes the food easily accessible to those in need.

“For 35 pounds of fresh produce, you’re probably paying $20-$30 at the store, and here it is today accessible for free,” Martin said.

Individuals were also able to volunteer at the event. They were invited to pack all of the boxes of fresh produce and even had the option to take home a box for themselves.

“We had 65 student, faculty, and staff volunteers who made this event happen, packing boxes in a production line.  We have over 300 food boxes that were reserved for today, and we packed over 600 total,” Martin said.