08/04/2026
I hesitated to post that walk-in cooler photo because usually our walk-in (cooler and freezer both ) are very organized. This time of year we have a lot of fresh produce though and the current state of the cooler reflects that.
Our food shelf gets food a number of different ways.
We buy some from the Food Bank (some food bank food is essentially free but we pay the cost of transporting it to us, some is very reasonably priced. Anything labeled USDA came from the Food Bank but a lot of non-USDA foods do as well.
We use some grant money (designated just for this purpose) to buy local produce - sweet corn and other fresh veggies are often very fresh from right down the road.
We get many donations - Hannaford Supermarkets and Costco are both incredibly generous. Usually what we get are things very close to their sell by date. But both those companies and our staff take food safety seriously - frozen things stay frozen, dairy & deli products stay cool - and we see so many people when we're open that very few things have a chance to spoil. (Remember, the "sell by" date is not the same as "use by" or "best by" - freshly sliced deli meats need to be used or frozen soon after the "sell by" date but yogurt in a sealed container is going to be just as good for at least a few weeks if it's been properly stored the whole time. And canned goods are good for years if the cans stay in good shape. We take all this stuff seriously and don't want to send any food home we wouldn't eat ourselves!)
Most of our eggs are from VT Blodgett Family Farm whose pullets are busy laying eggs too small for retail but are about as fresh as an egg can be. The eggs I delivered today were probably laid yesterday!
With fresh produce like today's pineapples, avocados, bananas, and berries we know that some people have no problem taking home a bunch of bananas, setting out some to eat and freezing the rest for breads or smoothies. Others just want "eating" bananas or would prefer already processed frozen bananas. We try to meet people where they are. I have no problem tossing the bad strawberry(s) from a box, washing the rest, cutting off the tops, and freezing them for smoothies but many people don't want to deal with the box when one's gone bad. We are never going to wash a "bad" berry and put it back in the box (or into the freezer). When we take anything back to our kitchen to process it we only save the good stuff. The rest gets composted or, when applicable, fed to pigs or chickens.
Salad greens are tough - when the bag of chopped lettuces starts going it's pretty much gone. But a bag of heads of romaine you can usually pull off the wilting outer leaves and still make a great caesar salad. (and chickens love those wilting leaves).
Everyone at the food shelf is a volunteer. (And most of us would financially qualify as customers if our food shelf set or cared about income levels). We want to be sure our neighbors - and that includes everyone wherever they come from, not just Sheldon folks - have food on their tables. We don't want anyone going hungry.
Do I wish we always had perfect produce and enough meat (or any meat at all these days) - yes! But yesterday's deli meat and half a box of strawberries is still a great start to a lunch. Add in bread and butter and cheese and eggs and that will leave more $ in your budget to buy the other things you need.
We are YOUR food shelf and we want to be here for you with as much food as we can. Even if sometimes it isn't perfect.
(imma gonna go slice into the pineapple i brought home and have a taste of sunshine!)
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