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Sarah Armbruster is an AmeriCorps member serving at AGO & HAH as the Washington State Gleaning Network Development VISTA in Seattle, Washington. Her service is focused on increasing accessibility to fresh local produce to low-income families in Washington state by increasing the capacity of organizations to glean more produce while also reducing food loss through the creation of a regional gleaning network.

The awesome farm team at 21 Acres contacted us for help when their bok choy was beginning to bolt but they were not able to harvest it. 

“We needed to harvest it asap so we didn’t have flexibility to push a glean into the next week.”

They reached out to the Washington Gleaning Network and, despite the last-minute nature, were able to get someone out there to pick it! Unfortunately, the majority of the produce didn’t have an outlet and has now been transformed back into organic matter in the field. That being said, the farm team is thrilled that around 40 pounds of that bok choy was gleaned by Hopelink and delivered to their mobile market!

We are looking forward to continuing our partnership with farms like 21 Acres to plan even more gleans for the Washington Gleaning Network to participate in throughout the growing season!