A dedicated group of high school students is spending weekends preserving the planet by tackling food waste and hunger.
The Emerald Keepers, a volunteer organization, is inviting locals with excess fruit in their gardens to schedule pickups from their high school interns, as they shared in a piece in the Coronado Times and on Facebook.
The interns will collect the fruit and deliver it to the Imperial Beach Neighborhood Center Food Pantry, aiding those in need as part of the Coronado Crops program's third year.
"Since 2024, Coronado Crops has successfully harvested and donated more than 1,400 pounds of fresh produce," the group wrote. "Our goal is to double that amount this year but we need your help!"
The effort helps in a variety of ways. For one, it helps feed the needy in a difficult category to fulfill — fresh produce.
The group noted that the San Diego Food Bank says that nearly 850,000 county residents can't deliver three nutritious meals to themselves or their families on a regular basis. Fruits provide an invaluable part of a healthy diet, and they can be among the hardest components to get ripe and unspoiled.
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Another benefit is helping out homeowners with excess fruit at no cost. That aids their trees and properties. Rotting fruit can fall from trees, attracting unwanted pests like rats. Even if the rotting fruit is disposed of quickly, it can then end up in landfills, where it would release harmful gases as it decomposes.
It would also go to waste instead of helping with food insecurity. That would add to America's massive food waste problem, which includes 80 million tons of food going to waste each year, per ReFED.
Homeowners in Coronado can easily avoid all that by scheduling an intern pickup on the weekend by completing an online form or emailing the Emerald Keepers directly. A commenter on the Coronado Times praised another year of the initiative.
"SO awesome!!!!!!!!!!" they wrote.
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