Benefits to Farmers of Donating Fresh Produce to Food Banks

The Center for Environmental Farming Systems (CEFS) Whole Crop Harvest initiative has released a new video to encourage farmers to donate produce to food banks. Donations to food banks provide alternatives for farmers when they are unable to sell all of their fresh produce, says Rebecca Dunning, a North Carolina State University horticulturist. The audience for this 5-minute video are mid to large scale produce growers who currently do not donate product to food banks. In our work interviewing these growers in North Carolina, we found that growers were not aware of the capacity of regional food banks to efficiently pick up and handle large volumes, and some growers were unaware of the tax benefits and release from liability associated with donation.