Labeling
Labels are branded with the company name and logo as well as the snack name (i.e. Apple Snacks). The labels are placed on each bag before being counted and stored in the large bags or boxes.
Sealing
Project: Fruit Stars is in possession of 3 sealers that help make sure the snacks are properly packaged before being given to the schools. It is easy to seal the bags with solid food in it, though sealing apple sauce can be a little tricky. Because of this, another person is needed to wipe down the bags once they’ve been sealed before we are able to put a label on them.
Counting
Numerous snacks are made each day the kitchen is open, therefore it is necessary to keep track of how many there are. This is especially important when considering the distribution to the schools. The smaller snacks are counted and placed into much larger bags with the number of snacks it contains written on the outside. This helps us determine how efficient we are working and if we are achieving our goal. The snacks are passed onto E4C to be distributed to kids!
Our Tasks
Picking up apples
Over at the Organic Box, apples that were dontated from an orchard in British Columbia were being stored in a refridgerated room to prevent them from spoiling. Each week, Barb would go to the Organic Box and sort through a large bin of apples to seperate what was ready to be composted and what could be preserved. Three criterions: 1.compost; 2.blemished apples that can be saved; 3.unblemished fruit. Once sorted and boxed, Barb would transport the apples to the comunity hall to be prepped! We were able to process all the apples that were being stored at the Organic Box. Wanting to sustain the project further, Barb contacted her sister, who works at a rural grocery store, and was able to arrange to pick up their discarded fruit.
Prepping fruit
Removing the stickers is the first thing to be done in order to prep the apples. In doing so, we must ensure that the fruit are still good to use, throwing it away only when 50% of it is not usable. Once that is finished, we let them soak in lemon water for around 5 minutes so that the apple is fresh and ready to chop up! Apples are then cut a specific way depending on what snack they are being made for.
Chopping
When making anything other than apple chips, it is more efficient to chop the apples four ways to make sure that the majority of the fruit is taken off of the core. They are then ready to be boiled into applesauce or ground up to make apple leather.
Cutting for chips
To make the apple chips, we slice the apples from the equator creating circular thin shapes to reveal a star symbol in the center. We then line them up on metal sheets to be dehydrated for 10-12 hours. Project: Fruit Stars has recently been donated a new dehydrator and saved enough money to purchase another, which gives them a total of 3 machines. This will help speed up the process a lot, seeing as how up until now, only one has been available.
Blending and boiling for applesauce
The apples are boiled until they become soft and mushy, making it simple to convert it into the sauce. Nothing is added to the snacks, they are solely the fruit themselves, although a little bit of cinnamon can be added to the mixture. The apple sauce gets placed in freezer bags so that there is plenty ready to package if needed.
Packaging
Depending on what job you’re doing, packaging can be more or less difficult.
For the apple chips and leather, we create the bags first by measuring and sealing one of the ends. Doing this ourselves helps to minimize expenses since this project relies on outside donations. Once the bags are made, the snacks are weighed so that each bag contains 15g worth of the treat. They are then handed off to be sealed and labeled.
To package the applesauce is a little more difficult. Thanks to a generous donation, Project: Fruit Stars is now in possession of a sausage filler in order to make the job a little easier. First, bags need to be cut and then placed on the spout of the filler which is topped with applesauce. One person's job is to ensure the bag is filling properly while another pumps the sauce into it carefully. Once many tubes have been made and there are buckets full, they are sent to one of the three sealing machines.
The process for banana snacks were similar. We made banana chips and banana leather with the rescued bananas.