Effective gleaning programs frequently run into this problem each harvest season: all of the apple, pear, or plum trees ripen at the same time, and an organization gets overwhelmed with more produce than clients can take. Here are some tips for making use of extra produce in order to reduce overall food waste in your community..
No matter what size a glean is, proper equipment makes the task go smoothly and facilitates proper transportation to keep produce in good shape. Supplies that are purchased new can be costly. Search local facebook pages, craigslist, garage sales, thrift stores, and farm sales for what your organization needs..
Raising awareness and recruiting volunteers take a significant amount of planning time when done correctly. When engaging community members, it’s important to have a strategy behind your interaction..
Creating a strategic plan for donor outreach makes the growing season more bountiful for farmers and food banks alike. Winter is an excellent opportunity to take advantage of farmer downtime to introduce one’s organization or build on an existing relationship..
Harvest for Vashon volunteer outreach has taken on many different forms over the last two years, and a consistent factor to account for is the unique profile of island neighbors. The island has a population of 10,000, most of whom are elderly residents and young families..
Harvest for Vashon began in 2017 as a collaboration between two Vashon Island organizations dedicated to local food justice. The first organization is the Food Access Partnership (FAP), a committee of the Vashon Island Growers’ Association (VIGA)..
Some gleanings will have more lead time than others. In some cases, you may only have a day or two notice. It is always best to prepare as far in advance as possible, but be flexible when a gleaning is short notice..
Before opening the second location in the metro area, much of the donated produce in Tifton came from warehouse culls. This is similarly simple to a market recovery, because it has already been harvested and just needs the planning and volunteers to pick up and distribute it out..
There are several different gleaning approaches you can take when recovering the food properly and safely. U-pick gleaning can be extremely detailed orientated, as the volunteers have to follow safety guidelines and be careful to only pick rows the farmer said was okay to pick..
SoSA works directly with farmers to provide gleaning opportunities to our volunteers and allow them to harvest crops themselves. Food recovery at markets has slowly gained traction in Tifton, however farms remained the main source of gleaned produce and “grow-a row” programs..