Every year Iskashitaa gleans and redistributes more than 50 tons of produce annually, reducing local food waste and increasing food security. DGT members can nominate Iskashitaa for the Arizona Daily Star’s Reader’s Choice award. Click here to nominate (scroll down to Best Non-Profit).
The Iskashitaa Refugee Network is a non-profit dedicated to helping refugees integrate into Southern Arizona. It offers a year-round fruit and vegetable harvest program. Refugees from dozens of different countries work together to collect the food.
Refugees can keep what they pick, and the rest is donated to the Tucson community.
“Sixty percent of what we harvest, which is about 150,000 pounds, annually of fruits and vegetables goes to food banks, soup kitchens, shelters and schools,” Barbara Eiswerth told KVOA, founder and director of Iskashitaa. “So it’s really important that we’re reducing the food waste while increasing the food security.”
Iskashitaa harvests for free on private property and public space. It will do one tree or a dozen. The harvesting program also provides a valuable network for refugees to practice new skills and navigate their new city.
