FARMERS, GARDENERS AND PRODUCE
There are lots of people who have a green thumb and can turn a patch of dirt into lush green plants growing nutritious food to eat. They are often growers who work on farms and harvest large amounts of fruits or vegetables. Others are our fellow New Mexicans who take the initiative to plant vegetables or grow fruit in their yard and garden every year. While many of these home-grown foods are used by the people who grow them, a portion often get thrown away or plowed under. All that energy, water and time spent producing food shouldn’t go to waste. Food banks and other hunger relief organizations are a perfect outlet to donate excess or unsold produce. And there are tax incentives farmers and producers may qualify for, too!
Farmers Can Donate Excess Produce
Often in the case of farms, there may not be a market for all the produce a farmer has grown or they have “ugly food” thanks to Mother Nature’s imperfection that grocery store chains wouldn’t typically purchase. Sometimes weather causes a crop to mature more quickly than anticipated or damages the crop, leaving less of a market to sell fruits and vegetables. In any of these circumstances, food banks like Roadrunner Food Bank invite New Mexico farmers to consider donating excess produce to provide nutritious food to people struggling with hunger in our state.
How to Donate Large Volumes of Produce
With your gifts of food, we can continue to help 70,000 hungry children, adults, veterans, and senior citizens every week in New Mexico. Donating excess food through our Food Rescue program gives food to those who need it as quickly as possible, while offering you a tax incentive as well.
We have a fleet of refrigerated trucks and can quickly coordinate pick up and transport large volumes of donated fruits and vegetables from an area farm to our distribution center or affiliated member partner sites. If you are a farmer or grower with excess produce you want to donate, partner with us! Contact us and ask for our food rescue manager.
Gardeners
Often when we plant a garden, it produces more vegetables than one household can use. Then before you know it, the produce has gone bad. The fruit and vegetables you worked so hard to grow and nurture wind up in compost pile or the trash. At Roadrunner Food Bank, we have another option for you: donate it to us!
Your gift of nutritious food will go a long way in providing access to fruits and vegetables for 70,000 people we serve each week — people who may not have the ability to access freshly grown food often or even at all. When you give excess produce to Roadrunner Food Bank, we provide it to member partner distribution sites that provide food to children, seniors, adults, and entire families.
If you decide to donate, please bring your produce donations directly to the food bank during business hours. If you are in a rural area and want to provide to one of member partner sites, use this website tool to find a location near you. Any donations brought to Roadrunner Food Bank are weighed by our staff. We will also provide a receipt crediting you for the food donation for any tax purposes.
