Partner Appreciation: Duskie Estes and Farm to Pantry
By Terese Chalmers
This month, WellKind is highlighting Duskie Estes, Executive Director of Farm to Pantry in Sonoma County.
WellKind has a commitment to supporting organizations working to end food insecurity. In the past year, we have supported over a dozen groups focusing on the issue in Sonoma and Marin counties.
For the past two years, through our Garden Mini-Grant Program, we have supported Farm to Pantry, an organization that secures fresh, healthy produce for the food-insecure through the process of gleaning. Gleaning is a term from the Bible. It involves harvesting the remains of crops from farmers, or even backyard gardens. Farm to Pantry gleans at over 240 properties in Sonoma Valley. They then distribute the produce to families in need through over 85 community partners (non-profits and food pantries). In 2021, they rescued over 350,000 pounds of produce. With the help of over 500 volunteers and 400 property owners, they have shared over 4.25 million servings of fruits and vegetables.
Before her taking on the helm of Farm to Pantry, Duskie was an award-winning chef for 20 years. She owned and ran a farm-to-table restaurant, sourcing from over 200 farms. This was a higher-end restaurant due to the high costs of fresh farm-to-table produce. On television, Duskie was a celebrity chef alongside the acclaimed Guy Fieri, as part of Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives”; and she competed to be the Food Network’s “Next Iron Chef.” She has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Rolling Stone, and the San Francisco Chronicle, to name a few.
Then, during the pandemic, Duskie pivoted to a different career out of a concern for her elderly parents, for whom she would run errands and pick up groceries. She began her work with Farm to Pantry to fight food insecurity and help her community in this time of need.
WellKind got a chance to spend some time with Duskie in 2021, as she gleaned at a lemon tree orchard with a team of volunteers. These are some things that Duskie had to say at that time:
“This produce would go to waste if we didn't have volunteer gleaners to come out here and harvest them from the field, farms, and backyards all over Sonoma. Some people might only have one tree, and other locations we go to glean are large farms. . . .We really appreciate the farmers and their heart to give to their community.”
Duskie Estes (left) and Kelly Conrad, Farm to Pantry’s Community Outreach and Development Director (right) at a gleaning event.
Duskie says that what she loves about her work with Farm to Pantry is that she helps more people have access to fresh, healthy, locally grown produce, and not just the privileged.
As we all know, global warming is a crucial international issue. WellKind is working to inform the public and give hope with ideas on what we can do to make a positive difference in our world. In the United States, 40% of food is wasted. About 10% of greenhouse emissions are caused by food waste. Farm to Pantry seeks to be part of the solution to this problem, in addition to food insecurity.
There are many ways that people can help Food to Pantry that are listed on their website, including volunteering as a gleaner or allowing gleaners in your field, orchard, or backyard. You can find them at www.farmtopantry.org.