FULLERTON, Calif. — The Fullerton Arboretum is a 26-acre botanical garden located at Cal State Fullerton.

Horticulturalist Amy Bulone said the team grows a huge variety of fruits in its gardens including avocados, oranges, kumquats, peaches, bananas and much more. The list also includes international fruit not normally sold in grocery stories.

Bulone said the arboretum grows more fruit than it can sell. Therefore, on a weekly basis, the staff donates some of the harvest to the Associated Students Inc Food Pantry on campus.

The pantry has received more than 2,000 pounds of produce from the arboretum since February 2022. Any produce that isn’t used doesn’t get tossed — it gets composted and added back to the soil at the arboretum.

The pantry has helped saved about 6,000 pounds of old fruit from heading to a landfill, including produce donated from other organizations.