If not for Community Fruit Rescue, thousands of pounds of apples, pears and plums that grow on Boulder’s urban trees would likely fall to the ground to rot.
The Boulder-based nonprofit organizes neighborhood harvests to prevent fruit from going to waste. The produce is then donated to other nonprofits, such as Louisville’s Community Food Share, which provides food to people across Boulder and Broomfield counties. Produce that is not fit for human consumption is given to bears that live at The Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg.
Blair Norman, Community Fruit Rescue president, said this year the nonprofit has so far completed 50 harvests, netting about 11,000 pounds of fruit. Roughly five harvest requests a day have been streaming into the group from property owners.
“Frequently, people haven’t planted this tree in their yard,” Norman said. “They will use whatever fruit they can and otherwise, it would just go into the trash or the compost bin or attract bears to their property.”
Community Fruit Rescue got its start in 2014 through a collaboration of nonprofits, including Boulder Bear Coalition. By harvesting urban trees, Boulder Bear Coalition hopes to prevent problem bear activity in Boulder’s residential areas.
Brenda Lee is founder and president of the Boulder Bear Coalition. Lee’s nonprofit works with city officials and Colorado Parks and Wildlife to protect bears by educating homeowners on taking proactive measures to discourage bears from visiting urban land.
“Bears come into urban areas because they’re hungry,” Lee said. “That’s the main reason bears come into town. The number one thing is unsecured trash, but the other main attractant here in Boulder is fruit.”
An urban landscape is not a safe place for a bear. Not only is the animal in jeopardy of being hit by a car, but a bear seen frequently around homes or schools may have to be relocated. Lee said if a bear is tagged and relocated, it increases the chances that the bear could be put down if they return to an urban area.
Lee said that she believes the partnership to harvest trees has helped to keep bears out of the city.
Community Fruit Rescue harvests Boulder trees from August to October. Apples are the most common type of fruit rescued by the nonprofit, followed by pears and sometimes plums.
“This year, we’ve had some really beautiful fruit,” Norman said. “I think a light freeze in the spring killed some of the bugs. It’s been really nice to see and nice to give a lot of grade-A quality fruit to pantries.”
Community Fruit Rescue donates about 80% of its produce to Community Food Share. So far this year, Julia McGee, Community Food Share director of communications, said the nonprofit has received 6,000 pounds of fruit from Community Fruit Rescue.
McGee said the nonprofit began donating to Community Food Share in 2019.
“One of the ways this is important to our food bank is our goal is to distribute 11 and a half million pounds of food this year and for at least 35% of that to be fresh produce,” McGee said. “Community Fruit Rescue is helping us to work toward that goal.”
McGee said receiving fresh fruit is important to the people Community Food Share serves.
“As we all know when we’re at the grocery store, produce can be one of the more expensive items on our grocery bills, while at the same time it’s very important for nutrition and maintaining a healthy diet and health,” McGee said. “To be able to prioritize produce, it’s a way we can better serve the people and organizations that rely on us.”
Boulder County community members can help with the effort. Norman said the Community Fruit Rescue is seeking volunteers to assist with harvests. Anyone who is interested in volunteering, or who wants to register their tree for a harvest, can sign up on the nonprofit’s website at fruitrescue.org.
“I feel like every year we get a little bit better at not throwing as much fruit away,” Norman said, “which was one of our original goals.”
To help:
To volunteer with Community Fruit Rescue, visit: fruitrescue.org
To learn more about Boulder Bear Coalition, visit: boulderbearcoalition.org. Additionally, the nonprofit will host a webinar on how to bear safe on Oct. 13.
To learn more about Community Food Share, visit communityfoodshare.org.
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