Donate Your Surplus Garden to Your Local Pantry
It’s just that time of year: the gardens are going crazy and, if you’re lucky, you have more zucchini, cucumbers and tomatoes than you can cook, store, or freeze. If your friends are fellow gardeners, you may not even be able to find someone willing to take your hard-earned, hand-grown produce.
Rather than letting vegetables rot on the counter, donate them to a local food pantry listed by Ample Harvest , a nonprofit that brings together home gardeners and smallholder farmers with food banks that accept fresh produce.
We generally expect food banks to only accept canned or dry foods – and since non-perishable foods are easier to sort, store and distribute, sometimes this is true. However, many pantries are more than happy to accept food to improve access to food for communities that are food insecure and especially lacking in fresh fruits and vegetables.
The pantries listed on Ample Harvest have registered and confirmed that they will accept food donations. Use the website to check your local food bank’s meal times and donation requirements prior to your arrival. And make sure the food you give is clean, close to ripe, and of high quality (like what you actually eat).
A few things Ample Harvest recommends for all donations :
- Harvest in the morning
- Clean and dry everything (especially if you are using pesticides)
- Pack products in a paper bag (unless otherwise specified)
No donation is too small, so you can plant as often as you need throughout the growing season as the plants mature. And if you have extra garden space, consider joining the Plant in a Row campaign , which encourages people to intentionally plant surplus for donations.
If you own a community garden plot, you and your grower can collectively donate to the food bank listed on Ample Harvest’s website or directly to the community. For example, my community garden network has donation baskets near each garden so that passers-by can sample the surplus without wasting anything.
Another way your garden can support the local community is by donating a friendly refrigerator. Find out if your area has a versatile refrigerator and consider starting one if not.