Whether you are a food pantry employee or a volunteer, review these resources to help ensure that the fresh fruits and vegetables that you receive are handled, stored and distributed to keep them fresh and healthy!
Receive High Quality Fresh Produce
- Fresh Produce Donation Guidelines for Gardeners (MI Fresh bulletin E3201)
- Produce Availability Guide
- Providing Produce to the Food Pantry – A Guide for Gardeners
- Produce Safety Policy (PDF) (Word – editable)
Handle & Store Produce Safely
- Bleach as a Sanitizer (poster)
- Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Handling Guidelines for Pantries (Rutgers)
- FoodKeeper App (maximize freshness and quality)
- Garden to Pantry (includes a produce storage chart)
- Guidelines for Sorting & Storing Fresh Produce
- Health Reporting
- Kick the Bug (poster)
- Safe Handling of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables (Michigan)
- Safe Handling & Storage of Fresh Produce (Wisconsin)
- Storing Fresh Fruits and Vegetables for Better Taste (UC Davis)
- Tips for Produce Displays
More Resources
- For Safety Sake: Keep or Toss (making decisions about shelf stable and perishable products)
- Garden Gleaning: A Toolkit for Growers and Food Shelves (Healthy Eating Minnesota)
See the Training tab if you will be teaching food pantry staff and volunteers or interested community members about produce safety!
See the Pantry Guests tab to help those who visit your pantry make the most of the donations that they receive!
Questions or comments? Contact the University of Wisconsin-Madison, bhingham@wisc.edu or 608-263-7383.