By Isabel Song Beer
Smile Farms Inc., a Jericho-based nonprofit organization which creates jobs in agriculture and the food industry for individuals with developmental disabilities has debuted their 2022 limited edition Heat with Heart™ hot sauce.
Available for purchase in five counties across New York State, the two new flavors – fiery red and earth green – were created from the 2,206 pounds of hot and sweet peppers grown and harvested by Smile Farmers through partnerships with IGHL, FREE, The Viscardi Center, LETC, CP Unlimited, Nassau BOCES and Brooklyn Grange.
100% of the proceeds from these hot sauces will fund jobs and training for individuals with disabilities.
“Smile Farms’ pepper project represents this innovation,” says Smile Farms Managing Director Diana Martin on June 2. “Our farmers get to place the seeds in the ground and watch them generate all this amazing fruit. It’s so satisfying to them to know that as they’re harvesting those peppers, they’re going to be made into hot sauce to sell, which is going to create revenue for their programs. It’s more jobs for them and their peers.”
Smile Farms partners with nonprofit and for-profit organizations to provide individuals with disabilities educational, vocational and employment opportunities in agricultural and culinary settings.
With ten locations across New York, Smile Farms creates opportunities for disabled people at local farms, urban gardens and greenhouses, where hundreds of adults and youth with different abilities grow and sell produce in the communities where they live.
To learn more about Smile Farms or to purchase a Heat with Heart two pack, visit the Smile Farms website.
This story first appeared on amNY.com.
For more food and drink coverage, visit longislandpress.com/category/food-drink.
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