Module 19: Food Safety While Harvesting Vegetables and Herbs From the School Gardens

Module Overview

Students will be excited to harvest foods that are grown indoors or outdoors at your school. This module addresses the important considerations related to harvesting and storing vegetables and herbs from your seed starting kits, raised beds, and hydroponic units.

OSU Extension Assistant Professor and Food Safety Field Specialist Nicole Arnold, PhD, contributed to this module.

After this module, learners will be able to: 

• Identify food safety principles related to harvesting and storing fresh produce from school gardens 
• List the main sources of contamination and steps that can be taken to minimize contamination
• Properly harvest and store the GTS foods for taste testing with students

Roadmap

These items will all appear, in order, in the module.

• READ: Safety During Harvest
• READ & WATCH: Harvest and Safe Storage
• ADDITIONAL RESOURCE: Produce Pro Consumer Fact Sheet
• ADDITIONAL RESOURCE: Food Safety in Gardens Fact Sheet
• ADDITIONAL RESOURCE: Selecting, Storing, and Using Fresh Herbs Fact Sheet
• ADDITIONAL RESOURCE: USDA Fact Sheet, Handling Fresh Produce in Classrooms
• ADDITIONAL RESOURCE: USDA Fact Sheet, Food Safety Tips for School Gardens
• ADDITIONAL RESOURCE: Food Safety Tips for Ohio Farm to School
• ADDITIONAL RESOURCE: Food Safety for School + Community Gardens Manual
• ADDITIONAL RESOURCE: Food Safety in Your School Gardens, Classrooms, and Greenhouses Fact Sheet
• ADDITIONAL RESOURCE: Five Steps to Food Safe Fruit and Vegetable Home Gardening
• ADDITIONAL RESOURCE: Small-Scale Hydroponics

Please click NEXT at the bottom of this page to advance through the module. To return to the list of modules, PC users click “Modules” in the top left corner, App users click the back arrow in the top left header.

Safety During Harvest

Pathogens, like bacteria and viruses, can be introduced when produce and herbs are harvested. Produce and herbs can become contaminated by dirty hands and/or harvesting tools. Because it is difficult to wash/rinse pathogens off produce and herbs, it is a best practice to minimize the risk of contamination happening. 

Hand Washing

The most important thing to do before handling edible plants and harvesting foods is to have everyone wash their hands prior to handling or serving fresh fruits and vegetables.

Allow time for students to wash their hands with soap and water prior to eating fresh produce, if possible. Use hand sanitizers if soap and water are not available. Hand sanitizers alone kill most, but not all, types of germs. If hand washing is not available single use gloves can also be worn.

Have students scrub their hands for 20-30 seconds with soapy water. Air dry hands and dry using a single use paper towel.

Preparing Your Tools

Harvesting containers should be food-grade, meaning they were created with the intention of coming into contact with food. Never reuse plastic bags or use wood containers. In addition, your harvesting tools should only be used for their intended purpose (for example, scissors used for harvesting produce and herbs should not be used for other school activities). To ensure appropriate use of tools, label harvesting tools so that all everyone is aware of their purpose. Clean tools and containers should be stored in a safe place between harvests.

Containers and tools should be washed and sanitized before and after each use.

For washing:

• Remove or rinse all physical debris from tools and containers 
• Wash/rinse with soapy water

For sanitizing:

• Sanitize tools using a bleach solution (50-200 ppm, or about 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of bleach per gallon of water) and allow the tools to air dry  
• Run small tools like scissors through a dishwasher  

Safe Handling of Harvested Produce

Harvesting (General) 

• Be careful not to puncture or bruise produce when harvesting.
• Remove extra soil and debris before placing produce into harvest containers.
• Produce that has fallen on the ground should not be harvested.

Harvesting (Hydroponic Systems)

• Minimize any splashing (for example, if harvesting requires the roots to be pulled out).
• For herbs, specifically, cut the most mature leaves or stems (lowest on the plant) as you need them
• Cleaning and sanitizing of harvesting tools will be similar to harvesting produce in conventional systems, except additional tools/equipment will need to be cleaned/sanitized (e.g., water reservoir, unit surface, caps).

Please click NEXT at the bottom of this page to advance through the module. To return to the list of modules, PC users click “Modules” in the top left corner, App users click the back arrow in the top left header.

Harvest and Safe Storage

An overall rule of thumb is that whole, un-cut produce can remain at room temperature and cut or chopped produce should be refrigerated at 40 degrees F or below. Ideal storage conditions are often based more on quality than safety. However, most of these suggested storage conditions are generally for longer term storage rather than just a few days.

• After harvesting, avoid leaving produce in the direct sun for long periods of time.
• Do not serve any cut produce that has been held at room temperature for more than 2 hours or above 90 °F for more than one hour.
• Keep produce cold, or serve produce as soon as possible after it is brought to the classroom.  
• Do not wash produce until it is time to be consumed.
• Store each food variety separately.

 Consult your school district’s food safety plan for appropriate actions when temperature standards are not met. Ask your local health department if you have any questions. 

Watch this video to learn more about safe harvest and storage practices for leafy greens.

(2 minutes, 41 seconds)
Video Transcript: Harvesting and Storing Leafy Vegetables

Watch this video to learn more about safe harvest and storage practices for herbs.

(2 minutes, 41 seconds)
Video Transcript: Food Safety for Herbs

Please click NEXT at the bottom of this page to advance through the module. To return to the list of modules, PC users click “Modules” in the top left corner, App users click the back arrow in the top left header.