Brotherly Love: Bucks County Farmers Growing Free 'Good, Quality, Nutritious' Food For Local Pantries, Soup Kitchens
MECHANICSVILLE, Pa. (CBS) -- Bucks County has plenty of farms, but not like this one.
Craig Haney has a lot of feathered friends to keep up with.
"We have just over 1,200 hens here, getting about a thousand eggs a day," Haney, the Carversville Farm Foundation livestock manager, said.
Haney's also in charge of the Angus cattle.
"We're a farm that grows food, just happens to be that our food is donated," he said.
At Carversville Farm Foundation, 90% of the yield goes to soup kitchens and food pantries for free. In addition to organic beef, poultry and eggs, the farm harvests vegetables year-round, such as salad greens and kale -- 100 different vegetables in all.
Soup kitchens and food pantries can order what they need, much like a high-end restaurant.
"We get orders every week. I put together an availability list," Stephanie Zimmermann-Schmitt, the vegetable production manager, said. "I tell partners what we have available, and they can order from that list."
Then, the food is delivered from the farm to their partner charities, such as Face To Face Germantown.
"We're trying to provide good quality food for folks that need it the most probably," Haney said.
Philanthropists Tony and Amy D'Orazio started the foundation. The farm spans around 350 acres of land. They have a full-time farm crew, along with volunteers a couple of days a week. They try to make sure nothing goes to waste.
"If we have 200 bunches one week but there are like 500 in the field available, we'll pick all 500 and find homes for it," Zimmermann-Schmitt said. "Of course, farming can be a grind at times, but knowing that these folks are so reliant on what we are growing, it's really important to us to get the food out."
Haney has spent his whole career in farming, but nothing is like growing free food.
"We all need it. I feel best if I'm eating good, quality, nutritious food and everybody should have access to that," Haney said. "Food ultimately is what sustains us."