Mildly Infuriating

GOOD! Spending money on that is SOCIALISM! Is would MUCH Rather my Tax Dollars go into Elon Musks BANK ACCOUNT!

For the watermelons you might try to contact a local vintner. They may be able to process them into wine and/or liquor.

it would be kinda cool if food panties could also pickle + can things

I would set up a food collection spot just a few feet outside and ask people if they are kind enough to consider taking a case or two to donate there. This way I can redistributed the way I want with that second charity.

Thank you for your service ʘ‿ʘ

We are not allowed to simply give it out to anyone. This is not like a church pantry where all of the food is donated by the community and’s parishioners. There is government funding, as well as private businesses, which I am guessing get their money back from the government for funding this. If we could simply give it to anyone we would not be in this situation.

Yep. That's really dumb. When people talk about government inefficiency, this is what they mean.

Is there any chance you have enough (wo)manpower to prepare and preserve it? Even watermelon can be pickled, dehydrated or made into a jam.

You're doing your part, but someone else isn't. Everyone should learn as part of their upbringing that wasting food is bad - just like littering and thousands of other things. Unfortunately we live in a world where someone has to be fined for them to realise they're doing something wrong.

Second the pickling idea. Read a similar story that a food bank had a lot of excess fresh material. Thry had set up production through a commercial food processing site, had put labels on them, and were selling them online and at farmer's markets. The proceeds were going back to the food bank. Zero wastage. They were also making things like sauerkraut, kimchee, and kombucha. Watermelon can also be juiced and the rinds pickled.

I imagine for food safety and liability reasons, you wouldn't want to do it in someone's kitchen. Plus, licensing fees. But you have a great story to tell (good health, zero waste, help food bank).

Quick search since you mentioned NM: https://www.newmexicofma.org/food_processing_permits.php

I have a large ice chest and a heavily restricted diet due to medical issues and my food banks won't give me fresh produce unless I show proof of residency (they want you to have a refrigerator). The little daily snack pack with oreos and soda they give you otherwise isn't worth the trip.

I have been volunteering feeding homeless for a number of years and I was never happier than when I was tasked with throwing away compromised food. The sadism of it mixed with the altruism, sweet Jesus.

Trade it to a restaurant in exchange for stuff they might have you actually want. Shouldn't be hard to move tomato and onion

I work for a produce delivery company as a courier and yeah fresh produce is ass for storage and transit. I'm legit thinking about jury rigging a small air conditioner into the back of my truck for summer cooling.

Have you seen if there's any way for your foodbank to do canning?

If you’re willing to go there, you might post on local facebook groups.

You could pickle it with vinegar and salt

Unfortunately, you guys aren’t going to be able to use or give everything away. But, it all looks fresh. You’re going to learn quite a bit about how long certain foods take to spoil, and there’s some solace in that.

Tax Churches Into Oblivion. A society that runs off a charity is a society that doesn't function. Christians always side with the fascist when they come to power. The private businesses are the fascist. The United States supported the Nazis during World War II. This was all to weaken the Soviet Union. America is an imperialist empire and fascists are the useful idiots of empire. The bureaucracy is just basically how things work. And there are rules for things for a reason. Trump and Elon Musk love bureaucracy. They just want it to work for them. Capitalism is a wasteful system. It prioritizes the profit incentive and sometimes over producing and outpacing your competitor until you corner the market. Charity is just one way to manage perception especially if you get less taxes. It doesn't make sense on purpose because fulfilling people's needs is not its purpose. Charity is a business and it's not about helping people. Even if it's a Christian church. We no longer produce our own food, and big agriculture is the only thing we got. We have enough to make sure people don't go hungry. But the capitalist wants you to go hungry. Or pay the highest price possible. But less than the guy down the street, that's competing with them. The nonsensical madness that surrounds me on the daily is just, it makes sense if you know how things work.