Law of the harvest yields flour for food bank
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When Jonathan Conger was planning his Eagle Scout service project, he first thought he would take a Saturday and repaint the benches of a pavilion on Church property. Instead, the 17-year-old priest in the Lundstrom Park 1st Ward, Logan Utah East Stake, took several months and arranged the planting, harvesting and milling of eight acres of wheat and donated approximately 5,500 pounds of flour to the local food bank.
The idea for the project came from Jonathan's then-Scout leader, Edward Redd, now bishop of the Logan University 2nd Ward. The then-Scout leader also provided the land from his property in Lewiston, Utah.
When Bishop Redd introduced the idea, Jonathan thought about saying "no" but is happy he said "yes."
"I'm glad I did something that has a substantial impact on the community," he said in a telephone interview.
The entire process took six months — from planting in April to harvesting and processing the wheat into flour in September. From the eight acres that he and other young men in the ward planted, the harvest brought about 23,000 to 25,000 pounds of wheat. They kept about 2,000 pounds to sell to help cover the cost of farming and took about 20,000 pounds to be processed at the mill. The mill kept around 14,000 pounds to cover the cost of processing the wheat. The result was about 5,300 to 5,500 pounds of flour contributed to the Cache Community Food Pantry.
Irrigating, Jonathan said, was one of the hardest parts. It involved going out in the wet and cold and mud to move the pipelines by hand. "When it's your turn for water, you either use it or lose it," Bishop Redd explained. He recalled one day going out at 5:30 a.m. to move pipe so they could be on time for Church at 9 a.m.
The project was "bigger than I thought it was going to be," Bishop Redd said. "It was a lot of work, but we had a lot of fun."
Contributions from the ward and neighbors greatly facilitated the process. Alan Palmer donated the wheat that they cleaned to use as seed and provided the use of his combine during the harvest. "What would have taken the priests quorum two weeks to do by hand took the combine two hours," Bishop Redd said.
One member donated cow manure for fertilizer, while another made available his tractor-trailer to haul the 20,000 pounds of grain to the mill.
Bishop Redd said it was amazing to see people get involved. "It wasn't a one-person job. It turned into a community project."
Matthew Whitaker, director of the Cache Community Food Pantry said that Jonathan's donation would help meet the demand for one of the pantry's biggest requests — that of baking goods such as flour — for the next few months.
"Jonathan's Eagle project is very unique and much appreciated," he said.
Bishop Redd said he hopes the young men involved learned a lot about the work that goes into producing a loaf of bread. "I think all the boys learned a lot about the farming process."
Jonathan said this project has given him a greater appreciation for the hard work of farmers. "I was surprised by how much work it actually takes," he said. "It was a good learning experience. I really enjoyed it."
