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Food-Sharing Options
Models for Farmer - Low Income Consumer Connections
Contents of This Page:
Food Shelves and Food Banks
Gleaning
While farmers need to get paid for the majority of what they produce, still there are times when there is surplus production, or availability of product that doesn’t meet visual standards for sale, or other reasons why a perfectly edible product isn’t going to be sold. Minnesota has a number of avenues for farmers to donate food products, and some legal protections for farmers who make donations of food.
Hotline for assistance if someone doesn’t have enough resources to have safe, adequate food: Hunger-Free Minnesota, 1-888-711-1151
Food Shelves and Food Banks
Food shelves and food banks can accept any item that is eligible to be sold.
Fresh, Raw Produce
Anyone in Minnesota can sell (or donate) any vegetable or fruit item that they grew themselves on land that is under their control (owned, rented, or leased). “Limited processing” of produce is allowed. "Limited processing" means washing or brushing to remove field dirt, trimming of tops or long roots.
Fresh produce sales fact sheet
Meats and Poultry
Meats and poultry that are eligible to be sold can also be donated. There are more restrictions on these potentially hazardous foods.
Approved sources of meat and poultry fact sheet
Eggs
Eggs that are eligible to be sold can also be donated. Eggs for sale or donation must be candled, graded, and properly labeled with the farmer's name and address, "best if used by" date, and safe cooking instructions.Sale of locally raised eggs fact sheet
Baked Goods
Baked goods can be donated. These must be non-potentially-hazardous foods; in other words, they must be eligible to be sold at a farmers’ market.
Guidelines for farmers’ market vendors
Food shelves and food banks have food safety regulations from the MN Dept. of Health that they must follow:
Food Safety Guidelines for Onsite Feeding Locations, Food Shelves and Food Banks (PDF, 1.23 Mb)
Legal Protections for Farmers Who Donate Products
At the federal level, the Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act gives farmers and non-profit organizations protection from liability for donated products, so long as the product donated is wholesome and eligible to be sold, and the farmer or organization is acting in good faith and not in a negligent manner. See the full text of the Act in part V. of this document. This Act was originally written as model legislation to be adopted by states if they chose to, but in 1996 Congress passed its provisions as permanent law and then-President Bill Clinton signed it.
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Gleaning
The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act, part (d), “Collection or Gleaning of Donations,” gives farmers protection from liability for injuries that may happen to volunteer gleaners who come on to their property. This depends on the farmer acting in good faith and does not apply in cases of negligence or willful misconduct on the part of the farmer.
Second Harvest Heartland, based in St. Paul, has a team of “gleaners” that they send out to farms. The gleaners sign waivers to hold Second Harvest harmless in case of injury. Those waivers do not cover the farmers, but Second Harvest is aware of the farmers’ liability issue and is working on ways to further alleviate it.
Contact Mary Beth Dickey, Second Harvest Heartland’s farmer outreach coordinator, to discuss this issue. mdickey@2harvest.org
Gleaning Program Guidelines from University of Maine Extension – describe how to organize and carry out a gleaning operation using volunteer labor.
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