By 12:45 p.m. on Sunday, a line of 100-plus people snaked around the From Scratch convenience store and deli in downtown St. Albans. Yes, the store was giving away creemees to kids, but the bigger draw was the free, local produce from a project known as Captain Veggie Man.
Evie, 9, licked a smiley face into her creemee as she and her brother Isaac, 10, waited with their dad, Matt Call. “I’m never opposed to free vegetables,” the 39-year-old St. Albans resident said. It helps stretch his budget, he added, and his kids happily tag along thanks to the promise of ice cream.
“I like veggies, too,” Evie piped up.
This is the sixth year that Captain Veggie Man has distributed thousands of pounds of mostly organic produce throughout the summer and early fall. Local businesspeople Tim Camisa and Mike Rooney have spent an undisclosed amount of their own money buying up excess harvests from area farms. They co-own Vermont Organics, which makes organic potting soil and fertilizer, and Rooney owns From Scratch.
“There’s food insecurity everywhere in our community,” Camisa said. “We wanted to help.”
During last weekend’s distribution, Captain Veggie Man executive director Jordan King, Vermont Organics employees and volunteers offered a cornucopia of fat cabbages, purple kale, tomatoes and even Vermont-grown celery — plus apple crisp kits with rosy McIntoshes.
Standing in the shade with her brother and two bags of vegetables, 11-year-old Olivia Marshall crunched into an apple. Her brother Kayden, 12, was most excited about the carrots: “My mom makes the best soup with carrots,” he said.
The pair were waiting for their grandmother, Linette Bushey. The 68-year-old from Milton said she lives on a fixed income and treasures the fresh vegetables.
Since Bushey learned about Captain Veggie Man on Facebook a few years ago, she has returned many times. After she goes through the line, she jumps in to help hand out vegetables — adding a Captain Veggie grandma to the crew.
Learn about future Captain Veggie Man events on Facebook.
The original print version of this article was headlined “Share the Harvest”
This article appears in Oct 1-7 2025.
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