Nita Kurmins Gilson, Founding Director, ProduceGood

On March 26, ProduceGood celebrated a million-pound milestone during their annual "Spring Gleaning" event at Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa. This small, but mighty food recovery nonprofit has diverted over one million pounds of edible produce from reaching landfills since it began its efforts in 2010. That’s 500 tons of produce donated by over 600 local farmers and growers with gleaning and collection provided by thousands of volunteers to benefit over 70 feeding partners in San Diego County. All to reduce food waste and hunger while building community.  

“We are often not able to use all the citrus from our trees and instead of letting it fall to the ground, Rancho Valencia partners with ProduceGood to do our part to combat food waste and food insecurity in the county,” says Simon Harris, Food & Beverage Director at Rancho Valencia Resort & Spa. “As a luxury resort, in the heart of San Diego, it is important for us to be able to give back to the community.”  

“Because the resort has partnered with us for the last three years to recover citrus from the property to feed people, we felt that this was the perfect place to celebrate our achievement on behalf of the community we serve,” says Nita Kurmins Gilson, Co-Executive Director of ProduceGood.  

With initial food recovery activities launched by Nita Kurmins Gilson in 2010 as CropSwap Carlsbad, Nita joined forces with mother/daughter team Jerilyn and Alexandra White to  combine as ProduceGood in 2014. In eight short years, the nonprofit has become a vital part of San Diego’s food recovery system, using their decentralized model to prevent massive food waste and to empower communities to feed themselves.  

“Forty percent of all food is wasted, while 1 in 3 San Diegans struggles with food insecurity, a number that has doubled since 2020,” says Alexandra White, Co-Executive Director of ProduceGood. “We glean the excess produce and provide direct access to these nutritious fruits and veggies that would otherwise go to waste, to those who need it most.” 

According to the San Diego Hunger Coalition, as of November 2021, more than one million people in San Diego County are facing hunger, including over 284,000 children. ProduceGood has provided over 3 million servings of fresh produce to these individuals.  

ABOUT PRODUCE GOOD 

ProduceGood is a non-profit founded in 2014 by Nita Kurmins Gilson, Alexandra White and Jerilyn White, three local women looking to reduce waste and hunger by connecting surplus produce to food insecurity in San Diego County. To accomplish this work, they engage local volunteers to harvest excess produce in backyards, on farms and at farmers markets to benefit over 70 local feeding partners who serve food-insecure individuals in our county. Their mission is to build an informed and engaged community committed to finding sustainable solutions to alleviate hunger, reclaim and repurpose waste and promote the health and well-being of all. To learn more, please visit producegood.org.