• A School Garden (growing food)

• Kitchen facilities at school 

• Food/harvest safety plan or ability to develop one

• A two-compartment sink (for washing produce) and a three compartment-sink for washing and sanitizing harvest tubs

• Good Communication between your school kitchen coordinator & garden to cafeteria point person

• Connect with Jaime Harris to make sure you have everything needed to begin process.

• Food Safety Plan - Required

• Identify and Train harvesters

• Work with your school kitchen coordinator to create a plan (dates, procedures, roles) 

• Marketing

Prior to first G2C Harvest, each school garden must submit an updated Food Safety Plan to Jaime at CWS. Food safety plans address the following: 

• Handwashing

• Fertilizer and chemical application

• Pests- monitoring and management

• Health and safety of harvesters

• Training harvesters (students and adults)

• Produce washing and post-harvest handling

• Record-keeping

Food Safety Plan

• University of Minnesota Extension’s New Food Safety for School Gardens manual – Includes templates, forms, links!

• Children are high risk consumer

      (Only takes a few germs to make them sick! )

• Prevention is the key to preventing foodborne illness

• Potential for unintentional contamination – hands, animals, containers, tools

• Biological > Pathogenic Bacteria, Parasites 

• Chemical > fertilizers, pesticides, other residues

• Physical > Harvesting Tools, Storage Containers, Glass

• leafy greens

• tomatoes

• green onions

• melons  

See HARVEST & WASH GUIDELINES 

• How long to wash?

• When to wash?

• Where to wash?

• Here is a video to show students

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8EpfWAmq3o

Hand washing stations should be equipped with

• A clean enclosed container to hold potable water (water that is suitable for drinking). The container should have a spigot that can be turned on and off, not a push button-type spigot. 

•  Single-use paper or cloth towels. 

•  Liquid or bar hand soap (does not have to be antibacterial). 

•  Covered trash receptacle. 

•  A greywater container to catch the water used to wash hands

Student and adult harvesters must be trained in food safety best practices. Record names and date of training and keep this log in your garden records.  See trained harvesters template. 

• Wash your hands

• Harvest first, then weed, dig in the dirt, etc.

• Pre-harvest inspection

• Keep totes off ground 

• Train your harvesters!

• All produce should be washed before consumption, in the kitchen

• Generally, the kitchen staff will be doing most of the washing

• Root veggies might need to be gently rinsed outside to remove all visible soil to not clog drains

• Greens that are sandy or dirty, especially if it has rained, likely need a gentle bath.

• Talk with the kitchen staff about how they want the produce prepped prior to delivery

Harvest bins

• Store in school kitchen (where they will be sanitized)

• Coordinate with school kitchen coordinator 

Other Supplies

• Somewhere secure (covered, away from pests)

• Clean before storing, and after as needed

Involve students and let them know when they are enjoying G2C produce! 

• Yard Signs 

• Signs in lunchrooms 

• Announcements 

• Social Media

• School newsletters

Prevention is Key!

• Wash hands, wash hands, wash hands!

• Do pre-harvest inspections (pests, hazards in the garden)

• Keep tools clean

• Use clean & sanitized harvest totes (keep off ground!)

• Don’t work in garden if you are sick. If you were out sick the day before & want to help in the garden the next day, start with non-vegetable handling tasks. Make garden signs, use clipboard to record, write tasks on whiteboard, etc. 

Lead by example!

• $1/lb produce

• $2/lb greens & herbs

• Use detailed harvest logs to prepare monthly invoices

• School kitchen coordinator will forward monthly invoices to Jaime Harris at CWS. jaime.harris@mpls.k12.mn.us

• Fab Five signs, stickers, and book marks, garden to cafeteria garden signs

• Individual support - phone or Teams

• Garden visits and on-site check-ins

*IMPORTANT *

Before Planting communicate with your site coordinator to see what they can incorporate into recipes.

Great Crops for your G2C program:

• Bell Pepper

• Cherry Tomato

• Cilantro

• Cucumber

• Grape Tomato

• Parsley

• Radish

• Rainbow Carrots

• Salad Bar Items

Crops not recommended: 

• Broccoli 

• Cauliflower

• Eggplant 

• Pumpkin