Surrey produce giveaway closes down early after more than 15,000 people show up
The highly anticipated Ugly Potato Day, hosted by Heppells Farm, closed early after huge crowds showed up to grab some of the free produce.
Ty Heppell, co-owner of Heppells Farm, posted a video to Instagram just two hours after the event began to share how thousands of people were lined up and that they were having to turn new visitors away. He shared with Daily Hive that over 15,000 people attended the event.
“You guys, do not show up to Ugly Potato Day. We have a line that is thousands long right now, and it’s going to take hours to get in, and we are turning people away,” Heppell said in the video.
“We have way too many people out here. We completely underestimated how many people would show up, so please do not come to Ugly Potato Day. It is closed down.”
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The fall event featured 250,000 pounds of produce, including off-sized potatoes, squash, carrots, beets, apples, garlic, and other fresh produce, given away for free.
Ugly Potato Day was inspired by the idea of fighting food waste by giving away “imperfect” vegetables that are still edible but may have been discarded because of their appearance.
The turnout for this year’s event was uncertain. Extreme rainfall and severe flooding across Metro Vancouver were expected to limit the number of people who could travel to the giveaway.
Heppell shared a video yesterday encouraging visitors to try to make their way over to the farm, and it looks like the farm got more than it bargained for!
Did you manage to nab some of the free produce? Let us know in the comments below.