FREE PRODUCE FINDS TAKERS

FOUR FRIENDS START A COUNTYWIDE FRUIT AND VEGETABLE SWAP. GIVE A BAG OR TAKE A BAG

IT ’ S A common scenario in Southern California: You’re walking down the street and pass trees dripping with kumquats, lemons, oranges or avocados. Some of the fruit may already be on the ground. It looks tempting, but you resist picking some for yourself, despite knowing that much of the fruit will end up rotting on the sidewalk.

Alison Veit, Julia Sherman, Joanna Golvinsky and Alia Haddad were tired of seeing so much of L.A.’s urban fruit go to waste. Together, the four friends, who all work in the food and agriculture industry, planned an event they christened Fruit-Share, a countywide fruit and vegetable exchange. Anyone could donate, and anyone could pick up produce for free.

The organizers spread the word about Fruit-Share — which started at 8 a.m. Sunday and ran until midafternoon — using Eventbrite, Instagram (@lafruitshare), social media and word of mouth. (Don’t feel like you missed out: The next exchange is likely to take place in winter, with a focus on seasonal citrus.)

The event drew more than 230 people with fruit to share, who live in areas ranging from Topanga Canyon to East Los Angeles. These home growers uploaded their addresses to a Google map, which was then sent out to the 1,100 people who had registered on Eventbrite. Some participants picked up fruit in their neighborhood; others drove across the county to collect peak summer produce.

“It’s like trick-ortreating for adults!” said Savannah Dimarco, who spent her Sunday following the map around East L.A. (which had a high number of registered produce donors) picking up peaches, kumquats and grapefruit. “There’s nothing like fresh fruit picked off a tree,” said Dimarco, who lives in an apartment.

The organizers wanted to ensure the fruit exchange was open to everyone. “There are lots of people who reached out to make sure they could participate, who don’t have produce to donate,” said Haddad, who works for Food Forward,

which collects surplus produce around Los Angeles and donates it to hunger-relief agencies. Several participants in Fruit-Share said they are experiencing food insecurity.

“At Food Forward we usually donate directly to hungerrelief organizations, but this is more of a person-to-person model,” Haddad said.

For Rachel Cellinese, the fruit exchange was a perfect opportunity to meet neighbors and other fruit lovers in her area.

“It’s been nice interacting with people,” said Cellinese, who stopped by Andy Crocker’s house in Atwater Village to grab oranges and fresh herbs. Crocker found out about FruitShare

on Instagram.

Adding to the spirit of the day, organizers held a competition for the most creative display of produce. The winner, Alex Kacha, won a Claire Nereimdesigned tote bag decorated with replicas of various fruits. Kacha, an artist who lives in Highland Park, created a Grecian tableau with draped silks to display pomelos, tomatillos and mint.

“I wouldn’t have been this excited about the FruitShare before the pandemic,” Kacha said. “I’ve had time to slow down and focus more on my garden because of coronavirus.”

Before the pandemic, the organizers had planned to host a “fruit bazaar” in Chinatown with people sharing their backyard bounty. “Once the pandemic happened, we knew that wouldn’t be possible,” said Sherman, founder of Salad for President, a project that connects food and art.

The organizers hope to make FruitShare a regular event.

“You should never have to buy a lemon in Los Angeles!” Sherman said.