By Emmy Powell
Communications Specialist

For Dimmit County Farm Bureau, supporting its community goes beyond advocating for agriculture. It also means helping put locally grown food on the tables of families in need.

Through Texas Farm Bureau’s (TFB) Farmers Feeding Families program, Dimmit County Farm Bureau has helped provide about $50,000 worth of cantaloupes to food banks across Texas this year.

The effort builds on a decades-long partnership with the South Texas Food Bank in Laredo.

During cantaloupe season, Dixondale Farms donates smaller fruit that may not meet the size preferences of grocery store chains but is still high-quality, Grade A produce.

The food bank covers the cost of packaging and freight, while Dixondale Farms and Dimmit County Farm Bureau provide the cantaloupes.

“We partner with them every year,” Bruce Fraiser, Dimmit County Farm Bureau vice president and Dixondale Farms president said.

The cantaloupes are distributed through food pantries across South Texas and to food banks in other parts of the state, including Amarillo and Odessa. The South Texas Food Bank serves communities from Del Rio to Laredo and throughout the Winter Garden region.

Food banks typically pick up the cantaloupes once a week during the growing season, helping fresh produce reach families throughout the season rather than through a one-time donation.

Providing fresh fruits and vegetables is especially important when addressing food insecurity, Frasier said.

“It’s important in two ways,” Frasier said. “One is for them to be provided meals. The second thing is for them to be provided nutritional items.”

The smaller cantaloupes can also help food banks stretch their resources and provide more fruit to families.

“They like the small fruit because it goes farther for them,” Frasier said. “If they’re handing out one or two cantaloupes to every person, they can give a lot more cantaloupes out.”

Helping neighbors in need extends beyond the Farmers Feeding Families program for Dimmit County Farm Bureau.

That was especially evident after flooding left Carrizo Springs without water for five days when the river rose above the community’s pumping station.

Local organizations and businesses came together to provide essential supplies. The community fed 192 families twice a day and distributed bottled water and other food items.

That spirit of service reflects the longstanding relationship between local farmers, businesses and the communities they call home.

“Not only is our community with a lot of our employees, but it’s generations the families who live and work in our area,” Frasier said. “They can always count on us.”

Through Farmers Feeding Families, TFB works with county Farm Bureaus to donate livestock and protein, volunteer time, make monetary contributions and provide food items to local organizations.

For more information about the Farmers Feeding Families program, contact your county Farm Bureau or visit texasfarmbureau.org/fff.