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The Cook County Food Shelf is located at The First Congregational Church, 300 West 2nd Street, Grand Marais. Open hours are 3-5 p.m. every Monday and the Food Shelf is also open from 4:30 until 6:30 p.m. on the first Wednesday of every month. Now, sometimes this is changed around certain Holidays due to “Truck deliveries” from Second Harvest Food Bank -Duluth. Those Holidays are on Mondays.
Below are some answers to questions that are often asked.
Are expired foods or nearly expired foods safe to eat?
Yes, though they may not taste as good as if you had eaten them earlier. “Out of date” terms and what they mean:
“Best if Used by/before” date indicates when a product will be of the best flavor or quality.
It is not a purchase-by date or safety date.
The “Sell-By,” date tells the store how long to display the product for sale for inventory management. Therefore, it is not a safety date.
The “Use-By” date is the last date recommended for product use while at peak quality.
It is not a safety date, but for best quality.
The “Freeze-By” date indicates when a product should be frozen to ‘maintain’ peak quality. It is not a purchase by date or a safety date. Do not re-freeze the product.
For your safety, don’t leave cold food out for too long. Canned foods should not be stored in garages or cold freezing temperatures. Don’t use a can or package that is ‘bulged,” and date any ‘left-overs’ for the refrigerator on the date when you made them. Baby foods and infant formulas have Federal regulations. If handled properly, a product should be safe until spoilage is evident.
“WHEN IN DOUBT – THROW IT OUT. “No one (even you) wants you to get sick or worse!
We have an ‘Advisory Board’ that, along with AEOA, makes decisions regarding operations. Our daily workers and board members are all volunteers. The Food Shelf has bags or boxes of ‘suggested menu items’ for households depending on the occupant size of the household. In addition, the Food Shelf helps distribute NAPS boxes (Nutrition Assistance Program for Seniors) for seniors over 60. It is not our program; we help with distribution. You do not pay for food from Cook County Food Shelf. Our food comes from Northern Lakes Second Harvest Food Bank of Duluth, Minnesota, which gathers donations of food items from several places. We also receive donations from local groups and individuals who are concerned about our community’s food insecurities and the availability of food on low incomes.
We accept donations of non-perishable packaged or canned food that is NOT “out of date.”
We also accept monetary donations that can be mailed to Cook County Food Shelf, Post Office Box #51, Grand Marais, MN 55604
Information for this article came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Food Marketing Institute.
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