(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Commonwealth Media Services, Caption for Photo: Morgantown, PA. Russell Redding, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Agriculture speaks during Tuesday’s press conference at Weaver’s Orchard. Since 2016, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has worked through PASS to increase food security and reduce food waste, providing $31.9 million to Feeding Pennsylvania’s network of food banks to buy 38.3 million pounds of nutritious surplus food from Pennsylvania farmers. Sec. Redding along with the Weaver family at Weaver’s Orchard, and others celebrate the 10-year PASS partner-farmers, Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank and other charitable food system leaders who feed their neighbors across Pennsylvania through the program. May 19, 2026.

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Morgantown, PA) Pennsylvania Agriculture Secretary Russell Redding and Feeding Pennsylvania celebrated a decade-long partnership at Weaver’s Orchard in Morgantown, Pennsylvania during a press conference yesterday.

Officials said the partnership has helped provide families in need with fresh food while creating a reliable market for Pennsylvania farmers’ surplus crops through the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System, or PASS.

Since 2016, the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture has provided $31.9 million through PASS to Feeding Pennsylvania’s network of food banks to purchase 38.3 million pounds of surplus food from Pennsylvania farmers.

According to state officials, PASS funding helps cover harvesting, processing, transportation and packaging costs for food that might otherwise go to waste.

Over the past decade, the partnership has helped provide more than 31.7 million meals to 7.9 million households across Pennsylvania.