PORTLAND, Ore. — A local nonprofit is working to ease food insecurity in Portland by tapping into a local source. The Portland Fruit Tree Project collects fruit from trees around town before it goes bad and donates the harvest to local food pantries.
One group of volunteers gathered in a backyard of a Northeast Portland home on Thursday to pick pears from a tree.
“Fresh food is really not just nutritious and good for you, it makes you happier, it connects you to your culture, it makes you happy in a way that canned food doesn’t or processed food doesn’t,” said Heather Kiesler Fornes, Executive Director of the Portland Fruit Tree Project…