Page 24 - FF USA Exchange Diary September 2016

DATE: Saturday August 6 NAME: Gay Prairie Gleaners & Cream Can Corn Roast

The first activity today was a visit to Prairie Gleaners. This organisation is an amazing charity organisation that
makes dehydrated soup packs for the needy of the world. They depend on donated vegetable food resources,
and have their regular donors who fulfil all the requirements, then volunteers who cut the vegetables ready to go
into the choppers and then onto trays which slide into large racks which are then sent into the hydrators and dried
out completely leaving almost all the nutrients. They are bagged so that each bag (approx. 1 kg) will make 25
litres of vegetable soup by just adding water, and full instructions and contents are printed on the bag. These are
sent to selected charity organisations that then send it to disaster struck places and to starving people.
We all worked for 2 hours cutting vegetable bad bits and stems off, dropping them into bins for the next step. It did
feel quite rewarding.

Lunch was at the food court where we could choose from a selection of venues, we managed to find a section
where we could all sit together.

The afternoon was free time until we met again at Echo Dale Park for a Cream Can Corn Roast. This roast is
done in the old-fashioned cream cans over a fire pit in the park. Then, the food was ready, so the organisers
opened one can and it showed a selection of smoky sausages, then onions and capsicums, then on the bottom
some corn still in the husks. When the second can was opened it exploded and the top layers of food went all
over, but more seriously burnt the arm of the guy who was opening the can. We hoped his injury is not too bad.
(We found out later he had treatment in hospital and all is well). Anyway, we ate too much again then had a
contest, looking for signs and identifying objects around the lake. At least that walked off a bit of the excess.