FFA Members Harvest Turnips for a Cause at Illinois FSA

Athens High School freshman Skyla Jewell and her fellow FFA members braved near-freezing temperatures and 25-mph winds to harvest 1,415 pounds of turnips at the Illinois Farm Service Agency Land of Lincoln and Partners Community Garden. A total of 3,030 pounds of produce was harvested in 2010, the garden’s first year. As of Nov. 18 this year, 16,035 pounds of produce had been given to the Central Illinois Foodbank, with 7,810 pounds being turnips. “We’ve never run into it being this cold before,” said Mary Kirby, public affairs-outreach specialist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Illinois Farm Service Agency. Read more (The State Journal-Register).