Fresh Food Initiative: Donate Fresh Fruit and Produce

Fresh produce is one of the most frequently requested items by our member programs and moves quickly out of our facilities. Fresh produce represents the highest volume, lowest cost, and most nutritious potential food source for fighting hunger.

By working with famers and growers across our 23 parish service area, Second Harvest Food Bank seeks to grow our opportunities to source local grown produce.

There are many benefits to donating your excess, unmarketable or unsaleable products.

•      Free product pickup with refrigerated equipment
•      Receipts for potential tax deductions
•      Reduction of costs associated with storage, transportation and disposal
•      Waste minimization and assistance with sustainability

Whether you’re a large scale farmer or a backyard grower, Second Harvest has a variety of ways to accept fresh produce. Contact Director of Food Sourcing at eslazer@no-hunger.org or at 504-729-8246 for more information.

Gleaning

Second Harvest Food Bank can provide supervised volunteer groups for gleaning of fields and orchards both mid-season and after commercial harvests. Second Harvest provides all materials, including boxes and packing supplies and transportation of produce following the event. Second Harvest has full liability insurance to cover our volunteers at all off-site events.

Dedicated Planting

Plant an extra row or two in your crop fields or vegetable gardens dedicated to feeding  your neighbors! Second Harvest is looking for is produce that is easily recognizable, travels well and isn’t too much of a pain for a farmer to grow! Crops like squash, zucchini, turnips, cabbage, eggplants, etc. would be great options. We are looking for larger quantities, so any amount from a row, quarter acre or full acre could easily be distributed through our network. Due to the number of people we serve, we are constantly looking for fresh, healthy produce.

Second Harvest can supply boxes, pallets, transportation, and even volunteers to help with the harvesting! We would drop off these supplies as needed. We can also offer a small rate/pound to offset the costs of seed, water and fertilizer.