Go Bananas!

Fresh fruits donated to a local transitional housing shelter were being thrown away due to the fruit spoiling faster than the residents could consume the produce.

In addition to the Budgeting Lesson and  class information sheets given to the shelter residents, the SNAP-Ed Assistant also gave class participants a cooking magazine supplied by the State Nutrition Education Program.  One article addressed how to make bananas last longer by wrapping the stems in plastic wrap.  The shelter gave each resident ripe bananas and the SNAP-Ed assistant supplied plastic wrap for three bananas.  

At the next week’s class, participants stated that the bananas with the plastic wrap were still fresh while the bananas without the plastic wrap on the stems had started to break down and had to be thrown away.  

The shelter began wrapping the stems of all donated bananas upon receipt of the donation.  The Director of the shelter stated that she has “seen a substantial decrease in the amount of bananas being thrown away”  75% of the participants stated they would continue to wrap their banana stems after they left the shelter in order to save their food dollars and make food last longer.