Arizona grown citrus makes up a large portion of food donated to Valley food banks. A state quarantine will restrict the donations some can take.
The Asian Citrus Psyllid is a tiny pest that has the potential to kill citrus trees around the state. Because of the risk, the Arizona Department of Agriculture has quarantined areas of the state where the pest has been verified.
The quarantine which affects seven counties, including Maricopa County, means the St. Mary’s Food Bank Alliance and the United Food Bank will not be accepting any drop-off citrus donations. They will be only accepting donations through approved commercial growers.
Last year, the food banks received over 3.5 million pounds of donated citrus from commercial and residential growers.
