City Fruit prioritizes the distribution of harvested fruit to food banks and meal programs in order to support equitable access to healthy, local foods! We also share fruit directly with community members through our free Fruit-for-All Farmstands in locations across Seattle.
When fruit is too ripe, undersized, or buggy to be donated directly to a food bank or meal program, we work with our community diversion partners! Our diversion partners include local businesses that can process the fruit into products such applesauce, cider, baked goods, and jams. Not only does this divert food from waste, but it supports local businesses, and can create shelf-stable products that can then be donated to food banks, meal programs, and organizations working with food insecure populations. In 2021, a community diversion partner of ours, FareStart, processed hundreds of pounds of buggy apples and Transparent apples (a variety of apple that is best cooked rather than eaten fresh) into over 12,000 servings of applesauce. It is through the support of our diversion partners that we can utilize fruit that might be challenging for community members to process on their own (ex. quince or medlars) or might otherwise be sent to compost if undersized or buggy.
As an environmental organization, we strive to share fruit with community partners located within 2-miles of where the fruit was harvested in order to reduce carbon emissions from transporting fruit long distances. Are you a local business or organization that would like to receive fruit or serve as a diversion partner? Please consider joining our network of Community Partners!
Fruit-for-All Farmstand
Fruit-for-All is our signature pop-up fruit stands set up as another low-to-no barrier way to share fruit for free! Our Fruit-for-Alls are planned every summer and fall (July-Oct) in neighborhoods across Seattle so that anyone can enjoy the bounty of our city’s fruit trees. Each harvest season, we plan for 12-19 Fruit-for-Alls in neighborhoods from High Point, to Ballard, to Meadowbrook, to New Holly, to Phinney, to Delridge – and more!
We’ll be popping up with our Fruit-for-All fruit stand as part of farmer’s markets and occasionally on our own to reach youth in summer programs, families accessing libraries, and more. While we focus on Seattle’s underserved neighborhoods, our reach with Fruit-for-Alls in 2021 made sure that everyone in our community could have access to FREE, fresh, nutritious fruit – that may have been picked just that morning, just down the street! Fruit is first-come, first-serve at at fruit stands, but don’t fret! If you’re a City Fruit member, you can reserve a share of fruit! Your member share may even include some special fruit varieties that are available only in limited quantities (think figs, grapes and berries). Up to 10 member shares are available at each pop-up.
July: cherries, plums
August: plums, figs, peaches, apples, pears
September: plums, peaches, apples, pears, grapes
October: apples, pears, grapes, figs, persimmons, quince, kiwis
Do you have a site for a Fruit-For-All we should consider? Please email [email protected].
2022 Fruit-for-All Dates
Tues, July 26, 6:30-8 pm at Ballard Community Center (6020 28th Ave NW)
Tues, Aug 2, 4-6 pm at Meadowbrook Community Center (10517 35th Ave NE)
Thurs, Aug 4, 3-7:30 pm at Queen Anne Farmers Market (Queen Anne Ave N & W Crockett)