Donating Produce from Farms and Gardens

With a little bit prior planning, food pantries and other agencies that distribute food or prepare meals are often eager to accept donations of fresh fruits and vegetables. Produce is generally hard to come by for these groups. However, donations of fresh fruits or vegetables provide families with a much needed source of nutritious food, help reduce food waste, and build good relations between gardeners, farmers, and the community. Below are a few simple steps to follow.

·       Make a connection with a hunger relief agency: In Missouri, there are six regional food banks that distribute food to over 2,000 agencies. These include food pantries, community kitchens, shelters, and other places where people in need can go for food. Contact the Missouri Food Bank Association (feedingmissouri.org or 573-355-7758) to find an agency near you.

·       Work out the logistics: Not all feeding agencies are the same. Some are open multiple times per week. Some are open once per month. Be sure to have a conversation with the director of the agency in your community about the best time for delivering produce, how much produce can be used, and whether they have adequate refrigeration to keep the produce cool.

·       Harvest and handle with care: Whether donating excess produce from a garden or sound but unmarketable produce (because of odd shapes or sizes) from a farm, handle it as if it will be served to your own family and friends. It is best to harvest produce in the early morning and take some measure to get the field heat out of the product (e.g. hydro-cooling, refrigeration). Keep produce refrigerated if possible until it is delivered. If that is not possible, time the harvest so that it goes straight from the garden or field to the food pantry and food pantry customer. For items that ripen at room temperature after they are picked (tomatoes, cantaloupe, other fruits), harvest the produce before it is fully ripe to extend its shelf life.    

·       Coordinate produce donations with other gardeners and farmers: Area gardeners may choose to join forces to harvest and deliver produce to an agency at a scheduled time. Likewise, for growers who sell at farmers’ markets or produce auctions, produce may be brought to market and set aside at a central location. Also, produce that doesn’t sell can be collected at the end of the day. Delivery or pick-up will need to be arranged.

·       Look into gleaning: Gleaning is a tradition that goes back hundreds of years. It involves allowing volunteers to harvest sound produce from farmers’ fields that isn’t profitable to harvest and take to market. For help with gleaning, for farmers or people looking to form a gleaning group, contact the Society of St. Andrew. They can help locate farms and coordinate volunteers, provide packaging for donated produce, and provide growers with a receipt for their donation. Contact Lisa Ousley or Karin Page at 816-921-0856.

·       For farmers’ markets…Establish a Donation Station at the market: This is basically a table and tent that allows customers to make donations of produce or cash. If cash is donated, it is used to purchase food at the market for a local hunger relief agency. Farmers can participate too.

·       Set a goal: Before the season, set a goal for how much produce you or your fellow gardeners and farmers hope to donate.

This is a Food Pantry Nutrition Project at the University of Missouri.  Watch this video to see more of what they do.

 

 

 (by Bill McKelvey, Interdisciplinary Center for Food Security, University of Missouri)