Those decorative gourds gracing tables and porches this fall don’t have to go to waste. Those colorful pumpkins and squash are edible.
And now a Dayton nonprofit is using a literal ton of them to feed people in need.
Majestic Nursery in West Alexandria gave more than 2,000 pounds of gourds to Miami Valley Meals. The donation was facilitated by the Society of St. Andrew, Ohio, said the spokesperson for Miami Valley Meals, Taylor Naragon.
“They help find farmers that have excess and connect them to the receivers, which in this case was us," she said. "So we have to give them a shout out too, they helped us get that donation.”
After the products were processed, volunteers cooked the gourds in the facility's kitchen.
Naragon said they integrated the gourds into their standard packaged meals that offer a protein, starch, vegetable and dessert.
“So a lot of them, we cut in half, or cut in quarters and chunks and scooped out the seeds, put them in the oven to roast," she said. "So it kind of caramelized a little bit, with the natural sugars caramelized in the oven. And then we mashed up with some herbs and spices.”
Majestic Nursery told Miami Valley Meals some of the gourd varieties were grown for the first time on the farm.
"There was some funky ones in there. All weird shapes and colors and sizes, but all edible," Naragon said.
Naragon said they’re working on recipes to share with the public to encourage them to cook their gourds.
"We have been working on some recipes to share with the community," she said. "Because we have spice blends that our chefs created that we like to cook with ourselves, that's, we love those. So I'll have to see what they came up with in the kitchen to see if maybe we should share one of the recipes."
The organization is always accepting donations and Naragon encourages any farmers or food suppliers with excess items to reach out and donate.
"We always want to let people know that if you have a connection to someone who could donate something in bulk that is perfect for our chefs, we love things in bulk," she said. "And if you're not sure if we would take it or not, just give us a call and we have a page on our website all about donating food, what we like to accept, what we can't accept and how to contact us."
According to Naragon, Miami Valley Meals has around 50 partners that they supply meals to.
"They go through a onboarding process. We verify that they're a nonprofit and they're serving people in need, however they define that, and then they place their meal orders." she said. "We never know what we're going to give them because we work with donated food."
