A real big inspiration for Salem

This is brilliant -- I've been trying to interest the Marion-Polk Food Share in this idea (training people to go around and adopt urban fruit trees and care for them to rescue them from neglect/ignorance and put the food to good use) for a while, and didn't even know we had a great model just up the road.  

Portland's Backyard Fruit — From Waste to Feast 

"We look forward to a time when we're really able to harvest all of the fruit trees in the city that aren't being fully utilized," envisions Katy Kolker, founder and executive director of Portland Fruit Tree Project. Volunteer groups harvest trees whose fruit would otherwise go to waste. Half of the fruit goes to neighborhood food banks, and the remainder goes home with the volunteers. Tree Care workshops offered to the public cover pruning, thinning and pest and disease control. They also train Tree Care Teams who adopt clusters of fruit trees in a neighborhood. From harvesting 8000 pounds of fruit in 2008 to three times that in 2010, this growing project is bearing fruit and benefitting thousands. Episode 217. [portlandfruit.org ]

Audio  | iTunes | Review: Community Group Harvests 25,000 lbs of Fruit from Unloved Trees | Janaia's journal: A Gleaning Project Shares Fruitful Abundance | DVD $20

Let's live on the planet as if we intend to stay