Family-owned potato farm in Parrish gives back to Tampa Bay community

PARRISH, Fla. — The Jones Potato Farm in Parrish is a family-owned business planting crops for decades.

Along with their commercial success all over Florida, they’ve also been supplying Feeding Tampa Bay with free potatoes for several years.

“We have a mantra that we like to say, 'No good potato left behind.' And so that's part of our program, is to make sure that, you know, everybody has an opportunity to have good meals that come off our farm,” said Alan Jones, owner of Jones Potato Farm.

Alan said he gives away thousands of pounds of potatoes each week to Feeding Tampa Bay.

“We have a truck that comes by every week, and sometimes there'll be 10,000. Sometimes, there'll be 20, 30, 40,000 pounds of potatoes on that truck. Depending on what the situation is and our current marketplace,” said Alan.

Potato farming is in his blood. His dad and uncle grew the crop on their own farms many years ago. Now, he runs Jones Potato Farm with 50 employees.

So, Jones took ABC Action News anchor Wendy Ryan in the field to show her how he grows so many healthy potatoes.

“What affects the size?” asked Wendy Ryan.

“Well nutrition, soil, no moisture, temperature, weather, drought, flood,” explained Alan.

“So, a little bit of everything, huh,” said Ryan.

“This is nice soil, it's good sand, you can make a dirt ball out of it,” explained Alan.

While Alan learned how to farm at an early age, as he grew the business, he wanted to be philanthropic, knowing how important it was to give back.

“We're good Christian people, and we try to help out our neighbor as we can. You know, and try to have a mentality that, you know, 'High tide lifts all boats.' And so, how can we help not only people that work for me succeed? How can we succeed as a company, but how can we help the community as well,” said Alan.

What you may not know is that potatoes from Jones Farm have been used to make Frito-Lays potato chips since the 1960s. Alan said he enjoys collaborating with a company that has similar objectives.

“They've been really trying to promote an understanding of what the community of farming community is and what we do to help feed a nation. And so, you know, that's all right in line with our sustainability goals and our leadership community leadership goals as well,” explained Alan.

“We've donated; we usually do about 45,000 pounds of tractor-trailer full of potatoes every week. And it's been about three million pounds since we started with them,” said Jimmy Bezdek, the Sales and Operations manager at Jones Potato Farm.

Bezdek explained to Ryan what kept him working at the farm for over 15 years.

“It's a great family atmosphere. And, you know, we've had pretty much the same people working for us for, you know, several years. Mr. Jones, Alan, and Leslie both take care of their employees very well,” explained Bezdek.

Bezdek said the farm’s donations to Feeding Tampa Bay have contributed to 2.3 million meals for those in need and that makes him very proud.

“It puts a good feeling in your heart that you're helping people. And I think that's most important is, you know, helping others is what the world should be made of,” said Bezdek.