A Queensborough resident is trying to freshen up the diets of local folks in need.
Danison Buan is holding a fresh food drive on Sunday, Dec. 20 at the Save-On-Foods at Columbia Square. After collecting specific items, he’ll blend them all into a smoothie mix and deliver it to the Union Gospel Mission.
“We are asking people to buy fresh fruits and produce,” he said of items like strawberries, bananas, apples, honey, kale and beets. “We will have a list of specific things.”
Save-On is supplying a refrigerated van where the items can be stored until transported to a venue to be blended and packaged. The smoothie mix will be taken to the Union Gospel Mission where it can be frozen and stored for up to six months.
“The people we are giving to have really weak immune systems. I want to give them something that is really healthy,” Buan said. “A lot of the canned foods, they have really high sodium levels. That can actually affect people, so we really want to do a fresh food drive.”
According to Buan, the staff at the Union Gospel Mission can add milk, soy milk or juice to the smoothie mix, blend it and serve up a nutritious treat.
Last year, Buan started offering a Refood program, after winning a $2,000 ONE prize from River Market and Donald’s Market. The program redirects food from the garbage to the mouths of people in need.
“I’ve been working with Save-On and Donald’s Market. We have been able to take their food, repurpose it and take it to UGM, St. Barnabas, Aunt Leah’s. We are currently at about a thousand meals a week right now, working with the existing infrastructure of the other groups. We are trying to do what we can do,” he said. “That’s why we are working on this fresh food drive. Everyone is doing a food drive - we want to show them a fresh food drive. We need to give people healthy things.”
Buan, an entrepreneur who has worked in the restaurant industry, thinks people would be astounded by the amount of food that grocery stores throw in the garbage. He’s a big believer in diverting less-than-perfect produce and food that’s near its expiry date from the garbage and to giving it to people who can still use it.
“We are always demanding supermodel fruit,” he said. “What happens to the other stuff that could be used as well? It’s really unfortunate. It’s something I feel really, really strongly about. How does a country that is so rich with resources and food, and all these different things, have people who are hungry? Yet we are throwing it all away. I try to bridge the gap between the two.”
Buan’s efforts to address food wastage and help others earned him a Citizen of the Year nomination earlier this year.
If you’d like to support the fresh produce drive, Buan will be collecting select items at the Save-On-Foods in Columbia Square on Sunday, Dec. 20 from 11 a.m. till 7 p.m.
