abasket

In our area here in the midwest unemployment rates are high, and more and more people are having difficulty putting food on the table. I received an email at work re: what I think is a wonderful idea - wonderfully sharing, wonderfully healthy, wonderfully ecological.

As our farmer's fields, apple orchards, etc. wrap up, a local effort is underway to "glean" our fields. In essence, this means:
A lot of perfectly good food is left to rot in farm fields and under fruit and nut trees
Volunteer to “glean” leftover farms donating fruits and vegetables, providing fresh, nutritious food to your community.
Requirements: able to walk, bend and pick – plus enjoy fresh air

Last week, volunteers were able to glean over 10,450 lbs of fresh produce. The variety of fresh vegetables was able to reach 25 feeding sites and kitchens in our region.

Amazing!

They sent out another list for the next week or so - local fields and orchards where farmers have given permission for volunteers to come "glean" - I am going to show this to my senior son who needs some NHS volunteer hours - I think this would be a wonderful thing to be part of!

Have you heard of anything like this in your area????

somemom

Never heard of it, but what a fantastic idea

Puzzled88

One of my kids did gleaning here in California as a part of high school community service.

radannie

They do alot of this in Vermont.
One place, called Salvation Farms, a few others.

mathmom

We lived next door to a farm in Germany. They rotated crops, but the years they did potatoes there were always tons of leftover potatoes that the machines didn't pick up and people were free to collect them. We took our share.

spideygirl

It would be cool to organize gleaning buses. Advertise to the homeless community, and transport a bunch of folks to the fields and back again. They can eat or sell what they have collected.

PRJ

I've never heard of this and I love it. abasket, where in Ohio are you?

In Jewish tradition it's a mitzvah (good deed) for farmers to leave some crops behind in their fields and vineyards for the poor to glean.

Singersmom07

Our youth group regularly goes on a gleaning day. Have done it for years. Usually in coordination with the food banks because they collect so much.

Marian

"Gleaned" fruit collected off the ground should not be made into juice or cider unless you know how to pasteurize it.

This is how people used to get sick from juice or cider before the law required these products to be pasteurized. Juice and cider were often made from fruit that had fallen to the ground, which was usually a bit bruised or damaged and therefore not attractive enough to sell as whole fruit. Unfortunately, fruit that has been on the ground has the opportunity to become contaminated with animal droppings, which may contain bacteria that can make people sick. Washing may not remove the bacteria completely, but pasteurization takes care of the problem.

It's probably safest for gleaned fruit to be used only in recipes that involve thorough cooking that would destroy bacteria (apple pie?). Or you could find instructions online for how to make juice from it and pasteurize it yourself.

abasket

I'm in Northwest Ohio.

zixxa

I live in an area that use to be predominately agriculture but is now changing. The food banks in partnership with larger farms have had been doing this for years. After a while, the smaller farmers got involved too. There are even some of the senior communities/groups that work with specific farms each year. In our high poverty area, the fresh produce is truly needed and a treat to those who receive it.

The sad part is that there are some farmers who aren't comfortable with this because of the liability issues involved. Most don't allow underage to participate for this reason. They don't want to be sued because someone tripped in a hole and sprained their ankle or got stung by a wasp and had a allergic reaction or something.