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Serving Lincoln County for more than a century!
'Stay home' quarantine slows potato economic engine
Jeff Schibel of Odessa volunteered Wednesday at the potato give away in Ritzville.
Pastor Cade Clark picks up a pallet of potatoes Wednesday, April 29, in Ritzville to be delivered to the Harrington Food Bank.
Area volunteer Michele Kiesz shows off the fresh potatoes just as the giveaway started Wednesday.
RITZVILLE - Eastern Washington potato growers donated 20 tons of spuds to area residents Wednesday rather than throw them away.
The potatos were grown primarily for restaurants.
But with Gov. Jay Inslee shutting down dine-in eateries statewide, the demand for potatos has dwindled, leaving farmers with tons of spuds to give away or throw away.
The quarantine orders have essentially shut down the economic engine of local potato farmers.
On Monday, the first of several potato giveaways took place on Main Street in Ritzville.
Residents from across the region came to pick up a few bags of farm-fresh potatoes. Food banks sent trucks to load up pallets of potatoes for indigent residents.
An Idaho food bank also sent a truck to Ritzville to pick up potatoes to take back to the "spud state."
"We have a lot of people in need," Harrington Nazarene Church Pastor Cade Clark said.
Clark was picking up a pallet for the Harrington Food Bank.
"We're running out of fresh produce," he said, noting the number of families the food banks assists has doubled under the quarantine.
Rep. Mary Dye, R-Pomeroy, helped organize the potato giveaway that continued today, Thursday, April 30, at the Grant County Fairgrounds in Moses Lake.
"The Stay Home, Stay Safe order has dealt an enormous blow to potato farmers because 90% of all Eastern Washington frozen potato products are used in restaurants and other food service establishments," Dye said. "When those places closed, processing plants curtailed or closed their operations.
"Now, there are more than 3 billion pounds of potatoes in storage, and at least 1 billion without a home."
Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mark Schoesler, R-Ritzville, was on scene to help load potatoes into cars.
He said the event will have to be replicated many times in many places to prevent waste.
Both Rep. Dye and Sen. Schoesler credited volunteer Michele Kiesz with making the great potato giveaway happen.
Kiesz efforts have led to another giveaway in Moses Lake today, Thursday, April 30.
That event got under way at 9 a.m. at the Grant County Fairgrounds, 3953 Airway Drive N.E., Moses Lake.
And more are likely on the way.
Dye, a member of the Washington State Food Policy Forum, said additional loads will be distributed over the next 2-3 weeks to local charities, food banks, churches and individuals in the state.
- Ritzville Adams County Journal Editor Katie Teachout contributed to this report.
Roger Harnack is the owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.
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