Why Food Banks Need Help Right Now: Volunteering During the Government Shutdown

Picking broccoli while the government is struggling to fund SNAP food benefits We volunteered at a farm that supplies food banks. We've worked at food bank warehouses before, but this time we went upstream to help harvest the actual produce. Most of the day was spent on broccoli. My dad cut the heads with clippers, I broke off the stems, and we filled bags. The plants were surprisingly large, much bigger than what you see in grocery stores. We attempted cabbage but quit after realizing it meant peeling back leaves to check for bugs. What struck me was how little of the broccoli plant we actu…