Would you like to safely sendoff homemade or local products to friends or family in the military? Or send a food package to family members who live thousands of miles away? There are tips to ensure your package arrives safely and with the gifts intact.
What should you include:
- Hard candies, peanut brittle, toffee, fudge, and mints.
- Dried fruits, nuts, sunflower or pumpkin seeds.
- B
eef or deer jerky, or beef sticks. - Biscotti or very dry baked goods.
- Sturdy or bar cookies such as ginger snaps, brownies, oatmeal raisin, peanut butter, or monster style cookies.
Tips to ensure the package arrives safely and in one piece:
- Pack each cookie separately in small plastic bags and then place the small bags in a container like a tin.
- Avoid foods packaged in glass jars and liquids.
- Avoid foods that may melt or mold such as chocolates, or moist breads like pumpkin or zucchini(PDF).
- Exclude pork products if sending to those in the Persian Gulf.
- Remember that canned foods may subject to extreme temperatures.
- Seal each item in a plastic bag or container. Place items in boxes or tins that are wrapped or cushioned before being placed in your larger sturdy box.
- Double wrap your box with brown paper and tape all seams with clear or brown packing tape(PDF).
- Mail packages early in the week so they are already on their way and avoid sitting in a warehouse on the weekend.
If you haven’t already gotten your gift package in the mail to military members, now is the time to do so. The United States Postal Service has dates posted on their website for overseas locations.
The most important tips to remember in shipping food packages include selecting items that aren’t perishable, won’t break with rough handling, and can survive through a range of temperatures.
Writer: Lisa Barlage, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Ross County.
Reviewer: Kate Shumaker, Extension Educator, Family and Consumer Sciences, Ohio State University Extension, Holmes County.
Photo by Alice Henneman.
