Thousands show up for free food at harvest event

VIEW SLIDESHOW
WELD COUNTY - In this economy the offer of free food is something to jump at and on Saturday, thousands of Coloradans did.

Miller Farms in Platteville offered people the chance to enjoy a free harvest weekend - meaning if you could pick it, you could have it.

The farm's operations director was blown away by the response and estimated that more than 40,000 people showed up for the chance to pick free food.

By Saturday afternoon, an estimated half-million pounds of food had been given away.

The farm does this every year but this year the response was huge. They had planned to hold the event all weekend but cancelled Sunday's plans based on Saturday's response.

Unfortunately, the event ended on a sour note for some. Local law enforcement was ticketing cars that had parked illegally on Highway 66 and Highway 119.

(Editor's Note: It was initially reported that the Colorado State Patrol was out issuing parking tickets. That information was inaccurate.)