Ever wonder what happens between harvesting produce and giving it away at our Sidewalk Samples? Here is a look behind the scenes at how the produce has been harvested and washed before being brought down for the sidewalk samples!
Each Tuesday, produce is harvested, washed, and packed at the farm. After it has been picked, it makes its way to our wash-pack station. There have been a couple of upgrades to our wash station. Since last year, we’ve added:
- Landscape fabric
- Food-safe hoses
- Two more washing sinks
- Sturdier, perforated tables allowing water to pass through while washing produce.
We receive all our potable water from a spigot located behind the Lake Superior College campus. The hose is connected to a 4-way coupler, sending the water to different places on the farm. One hose goes to irrigation, while the other 3 are food-safe hoses dedicated to the wash-pack station. After the produce is washed, it is dunked in a container of SaniDate, an organic-certified sterilizer. Once that process is finished, the produce is packaged and put in totes to head down to LNPK Grocery to be given out at Sidewalk Samples! Many larger grocery chains rely on long-distance food supply chains with multiple points of handoff before reaching the store. In a time when the risks of Cyclospora are at the top of all of our minds, each point of contact poses multiplied contamination risks. Eco3 Urban Farm takes its sanitation process seriously.
If you are interested in tasting some of the farm’s fresh produce, stop by the store this summer on Tuesdays from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. In the meantime, make sure to keep a close eye on the LNPK Grocery social media pages so you don’t miss out on the next free produce pop-up and the grand opening announcement. We can’t wait to open the store and serve the Lincoln Park community soon!