Youth + gardens = winning! Photo: U of MN Extension Eating fresh fruits and vegetables from the school garden can be a life-changing experience for students. School gardens provide opportunities to learn about nutrition and healthy lifestyles, local food systems, and environmental stewardship. We can also use school gardens to teach basic food safety practices and help students establish a lifetime of healthy habits. However, raw produce can contain harmful microbes such as Salmonella or certain types of E. coli that can make people very sick. Those who are young, old, pregnant and/or have weakened immune systems are at increased risk of severe illness or even death from foodborne illness. We must do our best to reduce the risk of contamination in fresh produce, particularly when growing food for other people. Here, we'll talk about some simple guidelines for harvesting and preparing fresh produce for sampling in a school or other educational garden. These ste