Tasha Does Tulsa.

The grass is getting greener. The trees are blooming and blossoming. The teenagers are getting antsy.

You know what that means – Spring is almost here. Know what else that means? Time to plant stuff! Especially yummy stuff. And thanks to a joint promotion between the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma and Southwood Landscape & Nursery, you can get yummy stuff to plant this Saturday for free. Yeah, free.

I talk a lot about food here at TashaDoesTulsa.com – where in town to find the best of it, why you should shop for it locally and even a few ideas on how to prepare it.

Something that’s missing in a lot of today’s conversations about food (and, in case you haven’t been watching Food Network or the New York Times Bestseller List, you should know that we’re all pretty darned interested in food) is that there’s not a lot said about the millions who are forced to choose between paying the rent and a trip to the grocery store while we foodies munch on our organic arugula salads topped with artisan cheese and grass-fed steak.

If how food security can be a real problem in the richest, most powerful nation on earth confounds you, you’re not alone. But how food security can be a problem in a state considered to be one of the bread baskets of said nation (we grow a lot of different types of food here in Oklahoma, but we beat out 44 other states in wheat production) – now, that is really something.

Oklahoma is one of the top 10 hungriest states in the nation, and according to the USDA, we rank fourth in a category called “very low food security,” or what used to be referred to as “food insecurity with hunger.” One in five Oklahoma children lives in poverty and is at risk of going to be hungry, and nearly half of those using emergency food programs report having to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities. Nearly as many are having to choose between paying for food and paying for medical care or medicine.

There are several organizations and groups in our state designed to ease the strain felt by these families. One of them is the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, and this weekend this group is partnering with the folks at Southwood Landscape & Nursery to put fresh food in reach of those who need it.

This Saturday (March 26), from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m., Southwood, at 91st and Lewis, will give away free three-packs of selected vegetables in exchange for a non-perishable food donation. It’s part of the Plant a Row for the Hungry program.

Plant a Row for the Hungry, by the way, is a program launched in 1995 by the Garden Writers Association of America. It encourages backyard gardeners to grow a little extra each season and donate their surplus to the hungry.

But Southwood isn’t going to just dole out free plants and expect you folks to take them home and magically know everything you need to know in order to take care of them. The OSU Master Gardeners will be on hand to provide gardening tips. Plus, horticulturist Sue Gray from the OSU Extension Office will answer questions about growing tomato plants and other vegetables. She’ll be there between 10 a.m. and noon.

The only limit with this deal is each customers gets to take home as max of a single flat of plants. Which means, you could show up in a banana suit, on a unicycle or duct taped to your best friend. Just so long as you don’t try to take more than a flat of veggie plants, the possibilities are endless.

By the way, fresh produce is always a valued item at the Food Bank. Last year CFBEO received more than 104,000 pounds of tomatoes, okra, squash, melons, and other vegetables from local garden enthusiasts, the garden at Philbrook Museum of Art (which is quite a sight to behold, by the way – be sure to check it out when you visit this spring/summer) and other local growers and distributors. What is not distributed as fresh to the Food Bank’s 450 Partner Programs in 24 counties of eastern Oklahoma is processed in its Culinary Center into a form that can be frozen and distributed later.

People interested in participating in the Plant a Row for the program this year can drop off produce at the Food Bank at 1304 N. Kenosha Ave. in Tulsa during business hours, or call (918) 585-2800 for a location of a nearby Partner Program.

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