During pre- and post-harvest processing, leafy greens are exposed to environmental conditions such as large variations in outside temperature and pressure, exposure to light, and evaporation of surface water. These conditions can serve as driving forces for stimulating various modes of bacterial transport into leafy greens. This work aims to show how the applications of physics-based modeling, microfluidics and microbiological experimentation can lead to a deep understanding of various pathways by which bacteria can penetrate into plant leaves. Three physics-based models are presented: 1) A porous media transport model for pressure-driven infiltration of water and bacteria into plant leaves during vacuum cooling, 2) A porous media transport model for light-induced chemotactic infiltration of bacteria into plant leaves, and 3) A model of transport in a two-phase fluid system, with phase interface tracking, for bacterial retention and infiltration at/into plant leaves during sessile droplet evaporation. Microbiological experiments to quantify the amount of bacterial infiltration into plant leaves during exposure to light are conducted to validate the second model. Using photolithography techniques, artificial surfaces patterned with common microstructures at the surface of plant leaves, i.e., stomata, trichomes and grooves, are fabricated and used to support findings of the third model.