AUBURN — Good Shepherd Food Bank had a Goldilocks problem.

Its warehouse shelves were too warm for fresh-picked potatoes, carrots, apples and cabbage; its refrigerator, too cold.

A new $1.2 million root crop storage project means being able to accept more fresh fruits and vegetables, store them at ideal temperatures and make them available for longer throughout the year to Maine’s hungry, spokeswoman Clara Whitney said on a tour last week.

So, just right.

The project, funded through a $1 million Next Generation Foundation of Maine grant and the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry, broke ground in June and wrapped up in mid-November. It fixed the building’s roof and added three temperature- and humidity-controlled bays for 3,500 square feet of additional storage.

It had been on Good Shepherd’s wish list for years.

Handling anything with a quick shelf-life had been tricky, said Sam Michaud, vice president of operations.

“Carrots want to be around 32, 33 degrees. Potatoes want to be a little warmer,” he said. “This (the new storage) is huge.”

Up to now, fresh produce had to move out the door within two weeks, which limited how much the food bank could accept and, often, how far it could distribute.

Good Shepherd works with more than 400 partner agencies around the state: food pantries, shelters and more than 100 schools that stock their own pantries or send children home with weekend backpacks.

“When we didn’t have the space and it didn’t have the shelf-life, we had to get it out the door as quickly as possible and often as close as possible,” Whitney said. “Now, given the proper storage space and given the time because we have the right kind of storage, we’re able to look at the entire state and figure out where the need is and how to get it there.”

Good Shepherd receives produce from corporate donors such as Hannaford, Shaw’s and Wal-Mart, and since 2010, it has also organized the Mainers Feeding Mainers program, buying direct from more than 30 Maine farms.

Last year, the food bank bought one million pounds of produce from those farmers and farmers donated another one million pounds on top of that, Whitney said.

“Farmers don’t want to plow anything under — they’d much rather feed their neighbors,” she said.

The food bank is on track to buy another one million pounds this year; donations keep coming in as the harvest continues around the state. That tally won’t be clear until January.

In the next few weeks, it’s getting in potatoes, apples, carrots and cabbage, expected to last in cool storage for several months.

Good Shepherd passes food along to member agencies in a price range from free to 16 cents a pound. Fresh produce sells for 8 cents a pound, Whitney said.

The new project gave them more cool storage space than they expect to need in the near future, Michaud said, which gives room to grow and adds a layer of flexibility — they’re also now able to offer farmers short-term cool storage space to house their own crops in a pinch. 

Last week, Good Shepherd was working to get cabbage, carrots, potatoes and squash out the door for Thanksgiving meals.

With this new project, “we’re not just thinking about this Thanksgiving, but we’re thinking about all year long and many Thanksgivings to come,” Whitney said.

kskelton@sunjournal.com

This story was updated at 4:55 p.m. to reflect the correct funding sources.

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