PEOPLE : Giving Begins With Vegetables

“Who can get rid of 1,100 cases of frozen broccoli?” Mickey Weiss asks. When it was offered to him, he was quick to accept.

“Don’t dump it; donate it” is Weiss’ motto. The former produce merchant is the “veggie philanthropist,” founder of the L.A. Wholesale Produce Market’s Charitable Distribution Facility.

Each month the facility gives away 1.5-million pounds of unsalable food--bruised or a bit overripe. Year-round, 400-plus nonprofit agencies come to the downtown mart for fruits and vegetables.

Merchants used to pay to have that food dumped. Now, Weiss is talking about setting up distribution centers at police and fire stations.

As word has spread, Weiss, 77, has been offered more than victuals: “Some Beverly Hills lady had dresses she wanted to give away.” They went to a synagogue aiding Jews from Russia. Some of the 26,000 pounds of frozen meat given by a trucker helped feed 1,600 people at Nickerson Gardens. Some will be on Labor Day tables at Salvation Army sites.

Weiss isn’t above arm-twisting in the name of charity. He told one wholesaler: “I have $800. I want $1,600 worth of rice.” He got it--4,000 pounds.

Weiss is often at the mart, where four workers make the facility run--all with private funding, including $25,000 a year from Weiss.

Houston, San Francisco and San Mateo have similar operations. Baltimore, Boston and Detroit have plans.

Weiss wants to see a facility at every big produce terminal in America. He’s ready to lend a hand.