Community Harvest is a 501(c)(3) organization created to collect perishable and prepared food that would otherwise be wasted from local restaurants, caterers, hospitals and the food industry. This food is then distributed to local soup kitchens, shelters and hot meal program sites to alleviate hunger. We rescued $1.6 Million in food and delivered over 1,000,000 meals last year.
ProducePedia is a free resource that covers the types of fresh produce that can be delivered to food pantries. Each entry includes information on color, taste, and possible uses. People unfamiliar with the vegetable or fruit will learn how to use it, and those who are familiar with it still might learn a fun fact or two!
The Cooperative Extension sites have a wealth of information for any backyard gardener. Once you go to the site (each one if very different from the others) look for a link for “homes and gardens”, “landscape”, “consumer horticulture”, etc. to find information on improving your backyard garden. Neighboring state sites may offer information your own state’s site lacks.