Planting with a Purpose
Planting with a Purpose
Encouraging gardeners to share their harvest by growing fresh produce and donating it to local food pantries.
Fighting Food Insecurity Together
Planting with a Purpose is a collaborative program through the Brown County Community Gardens Program for gardeners to donate fresh garden produce to Brown County food pantries. You do not have to have a plot in the community garden program to participate! Anyone can donate fresh food they have grown at home.
Seed Potatoes for a Shared Harvest
The Planting for a Purpose program also distributes free seed potatoes provided by Wisconsin Seed Potato Certification Program for those willing to donate half of their harvest to a food pantry.
Why Donate?
Fresh fruits and vegetables are essential to leading a healthy life, but buying produce can be a challenge for some. Two-thirds of Brown County food pantry users say they would like to eat more fruits and vegetables, but name cost as the top reason they do not. To meet this need, local food pantries would like to offer pantry consumers more fresh produce. Donations from your garden help make this possible!
What to Plant
Most pantries accept many types of fresh produce, but especially look for common fruits and vegetables that are easy to store. These include green beans, potatoes, carrots, cucumbers, onions, apples, corn, squash and tomatoes.
Produce Quality Safety Tips
- Donate food that is ready to harvested
- Wash your hands before handling produce
- Brush off as much mud and soil as possible. Choose a spot with uncontaminated soil for your garden.
- Store different types of produce in separate clean, food safe containers. If not donating produce right away, follow recommendations for refrigerating produce.
- Keep animals and pets out of the garden.
- If you wouldn’t eat it, don’t donate it.
Contact Us
For more information about participating in the Planting with a Purpose program, please contact us via the form and we’ll be in touch shortly.
Planting with a Purpose: Pantry Partners
- Hope Center Pantry
- Oneida Emergency Food Pantry
- Paul’s Food Pantry
- Rooted In, Inc.
- Seventh Day Adventist Food Pantry
- St. Vincent DePaul Food Pantry