2026 Produce Season Recap

Fresh produce is consistently one of the most requested items at food shelves. As the Minnesota growing season comes to a close, we reflect on another incredible produce season partnering with local farmers and food shelves to move millions of pounds of fruits and vegetables into the hands of neighbors. 

This year, we sourced more than nine million pounds of produce between July and September and more than four million of those pounds were from local growers. On one particularly busy week in August, we moved 884,000 pounds of produce out of our warehouse – a new record. We also distributed a record 151,000 of watermelon alone during one week in July. That’s enough to fill four semi-trucks! 

As we ramped up our operations to distribute about one third of our total produce for the whole year, partner programs organized extra produce distributions to share it all. Partners set up free farmers markets in parking lots and community spaces, and offered extra variety during regular food shelf hours. We had more than 30 varieties of produce at a given time which means neighbors were able to find culturally connected ingredients, old favorites, and new things to try.