On Saturday, February 26, five Prince Edward Island farms opened their warehouses to welcome Islanders to come and fill their bags with free spuds in an event called “Come Fill Your Boots.” 

There were five locations across the province, including:

G. Visser & Sons, Orwell Cove

R.A. Rose and Sons Ltd., Northlake Harbour Rd., Souris

Blue Bay Farms, Buntain Rd., Rustico

Vanco Farms, Oyster Bed

W.P. Griffin, Route 145, Tyne Valley West

The event welcomed more than 5,000 guests and gave away more than 150,000 lbs. of potatoes. There was also a total of $8,350 received in donations for local food banks. 

“The event was a thank you to our fellow Islanders for their tremendous support throughout this potato crisis,” said Randy Visser, the event organizer and a participating farmer. “Although potatoes are also being distributed to food banks across the country, there's still so many left we cannot sell because the U.S. border remains closed. We are happy to have Islanders coming in and filling their bags with free potatoes that are destined for destruction.

By March 4, 2022, close to 300,000,000 lbs. of potatoes which cannot be shipped to the United States will be destroyed via spreading in fields for shredding by snowblowers.

Source:  PEI Potato Board March 1, 2022 news release