P.L.A.N.T. Washington has teamed up with Washington County ISU Extension to bring a new learning tool to the Washington community. 

ISU will be sharing their crop cart with P.L.A.N.T. The crop cart is a mobile processing cart for fruits and vegetables that can be used to teach essential food safety, business development, or nutrition programming.

The mobile cart is a stand-alone product that can be transported to locations. It includes a food processor, cutlery equipment, an apple corer, and additional items to support small-scale businesses and organizations. This addition will allow P.L.A.N.T. members to add value to current products, such as raw produce, through the creation of salsas, diced or sliced fruits and vegetables, meal kits, that can then be resold. 

The first crop cart was piloted in 2023 at four locations, one school, one food retail business, and two public food events, to understand its impact on areas of community and business development, food safety, and food innovation.  

P.L.A.N.T. will be utilizing the cart this season, there is no cost to the organization.