5 PEI farms set to giveaway potatoes last weekend as fresh potatoes remain unsold
There were five locations across the province, including:
- G. Visser & Sons, Orwell Cove
- R.A. Rose and Sons Ltd., Northlake Harbour Rd., Souris
- Blue Bay Farms, Buntain Rd., Rustico
- Vanco Farms, Oyster Bed
- W.P. Griffin, Route 145, Tyne Valley West
The event welcomed over 5,000 guests and gave away over 150,000 lbs. of potatoes. There was also a total of $8,350 received in donations for local food banks.
“The event was a thank you to our fellow Islanders for their tremendous support throughout this potato crisis. Although potatoes are also being distributed to food banks across the country, there’s still so many left we cannot sell because the US border remains closed. We are happy to have Islanders coming in and filling their bags with free potatoes that are destined for destruction,” said Randy Visser, the event organizer and a participating farmer.
By March 4, 2022, close to 300,000,000 lbs. of potatoes which cannot be shipped to the United States will have to be destroyed via spreading in fields for shredding by snowblowers.
Islanders fill up bags and buckets (and even boots!) of PEI Potatoes at G. Visser & Sons farm last Saturday, as part of the “Come Fill Your Boots” event.
This event allowed Islanders to come out and help themselves to the spuds as a thank you for all the support they’ve shown to farmers over the past few months.
Event organizer and farmer Randy Visser helps fill up bags of PEI Potatoes for visitors.
Lexi and Kayla Sato proudly hold up grocery bags they packed with Free PEI Potatoes.
Media Contact:
Cindy Nguyen
Public Relations Specialist, Insight Studio
Tel: 902-330-1689
cng@insightstudiopei.com