Local Orchards Join Food Rescue To Combat Rising Hunger
King Orchards and Wunsch Farms have begun donating surplus apples through Food Rescue Northwest Michigan’s Pound for Pound program, a partnership launched in early October 2025 that directs fresh fruit to food pantries and meal sites across Grand Traverse and neighboring counties. The effort, supported by a $116,000 grant for cold storage from Impact100 Traverse City, arrives as regional pantry demand has surged roughly 70% since 2021, underscoring persistent local food insecurity tied to seasonal employment and economic pressures.
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In early October 2025 King Orchards of Central Lake and Wunsch Farms of Cedar joined Food Rescue Northwest Michigan’s Pound for Pound program, redirecting surplus apples to food pantries and meal sites serving Grand Traverse County and surrounding communities. The program pairs farm contributions with customer donations, aiming to move fresh fruit quickly into distribution channels that supply families, seniors and community meal programs.
The farm partnerships were detailed in coverage published October 13, 2025 by UpNorthLive and follow an announcement on September 29, 2025 from The Ticker and Record Patriot that Impact100 Traverse City awarded Food Rescue Northwest Michigan a $116,000 grant. The grant funds a walk-in cooler intended to expand the nonprofit’s capacity for storing and distributing fresh produce. UpNorthLive’s story and subsequent social sharing reached local audiences, bringing attention to a verified 70 percent rise in regional food pantry usage since 2021.
Food Rescue Northwest Michigan, operated as part of Goodwill Northern Michigan, distributes about 2.2 million pounds of food annually across the region. The organization works closely with the Northwest Food Coalition, which coordinates food access to 78 pantries. Local agricultural partners include King Orchards, owned by the Mouat family, and Wunsch Farms, a third-generation operation led by Barbara Wunsch. Both farms have long histories in the region and are emphasizing community givebacks as part of their participation.
Local significance of the effort is twofold. Practically, diverting apples from farm surplus to pantry shelves reduces food waste and provides nutrient-dense produce where demand has accelerated sharply over the past four years. Structurally, the initiative highlights gaps in cold-storage capacity and distribution infrastructure that hamper delivery of fresh produce—gaps that the Impact100 grant seeks to address. Food Rescue data cited in verification materials indicate about 36 percent of households in the service area report inconsistent access to healthy food, a condition exacerbated by seasonal job instability in Traverse City’s tourism-driven economy and broader post-pandemic inflation and housing pressures.
The program’s arrival in Grand Traverse County comes amid growing community reliance on nonprofit and philanthropic responses to food insecurity. While these partnerships are providing immediate relief, they also raise policy questions for county and municipal leaders about long-term resiliency: investments in food infrastructure, coordination with workforce and housing policy to stabilize low-wage households, and the role of public funding versus private philanthropy in meeting basic needs.
Remaining verification steps include tracking the pounds of apples rescued in the weeks following the early October launch, and measuring how the new walk-in cooler affects produce delivery rates and pantry inventories over time. Follow-up reporting that includes data from local pantry sites in Garfield, Blair and other townships, as well as outcome metrics from Food Rescue, would clarify the program’s sustained impact on food access in Grand Traverse County.