What is Farm Gleaning & Why Is It So Important?
If “Farm Gleaning” is a new term for you, the practice is the act of harvesting excess crops directly from farmers’ fields to share with those in need. The volunteers that help harvest and distribute the surplus crops are called gleaners. It’s a beautiful win-win cycle powered by thoughtfulness and thrift. Gleaning has been a historical and prominent form of social welfare for centuries to alleviate two prominent and interrelated issues -- food waste and food insecurity.
Food Waste in America
But how big are these issues? The Environmental Protection Agency reported that food leftovers are “the single-largest component of the waste stream” measured by weight in the United States [1]. This measurement includes uneaten food, food scraps from households, unsold food from retail stores, establishments like restaurants, and institutions such as cafeterias, and others [2]. The United States Department of Agriculture reported 30 - 40% of food produced for human consumption is lost every year [3]. While the U.S. is producing more food, families across the country are experiencing malnutrition and obesity due to a lack of access to reliable, nutritional, and affordable food [4]. This is why farm gleaning is important because it can address both of these issues of waste and need. The gleaners who have access to an overabundance of crops have somewhere to give food. Those who are in need get support by having free access to farmers’ harvested crops to feed themselves and their loved ones.
Food waste is an issue throughout each stage of the supply chain, from production to distribution. About half of the waste happens in production, also known as “upstream”, storage while the remaining happens in the processing, distribution, and consumption called the “downstream” [5]. About 6-7% of planted food is not harvested and discarded because of mechanical harvesting error, the food doesn’t meet the “cosmetic standards” customers expect, or a lack of market for a particular crop [5]. Frequently, food banks have plentiful amounts of shelf-safe and nonperishable items but not as many nutrient-rich foods that encompass a healthy diet. Gleaning helps reduce food waste by using food bank infrastructure and hunger-relief sites to distribute nutrient-rich perishable foods.
How Food Insecurity Affects Communities
What does it mean to be “food insecure”? Food insecurity is the availability of affordable, nutritious food and an individual’s access to these foods. Food insecurity is a persistent increasing issue in America. In 2020, the Environmental Protection Agency reported that 1 in 6 Americans are food insecure which is roughly estimated to be 54 million people [6].
Food insecurity affects every community in America, however, there are specific groups that are greatly affected by this issue. Historically, elderly people, children, African Americans, Latinos, and rural communities are the most vulnerable to food insecurity [3]. Elderly people face this issue because oftentimes they have limited income that makes them have to choose between medical care and nutritious groceries[7]. Struggling families don’t have enough money to buy an adequate amount of food to feed their family - resulting in1 in 6 children, or roughly 13 million, not knowing where their next meal is coming from in the last year, alone, due in part to the Coronavirus pandemic [8]. The main obstacle for rural communities is transportation to grocery stores, food banks, and food pantries that are hours away. African Americans and Latinos face food insecurity because of racial, socio-economic, and environmental challenges [9]. Gleaning is an efficient and effective way to help these groups access nutritious food.
What can we learn from this chart?
Food Insecurity affects Black communities disproportionately because Black people face hunger rates 2x the rate due to environmental challenges. Hispanic communities face food insecurity due to language and cultural barriers. Gleaning offers a solution by providing produce to communities that are inaccessible to nutritious food [3].
Food Waste as an Environmental Issue
Food waste is the number one material in the trash in America [6]. This is problematic not just for the lost opportunity to feed hungry people, but also because of the environmental consequences. When food becomes waste, all the energy and effort that is put into growing and harvesting is squandered. Once the food is thrown away and reaches a landfill, it produces methane, a strong greenhouse gas more potent than carbon dioxide [5]. When an excess of methane and carbon dioxide is emitted, it absorbs infrared radiation and heats up the earth’s atmosphere which results in global warming and climate change [5]. The production of wasted food in America is the equivalent of 37 million cars’ greenhouse gas emissions [5]. Over 70% of water is used throughout the world so when people waste food unnecessarily, vast amounts of fresh water and groundwater resources are lost [5]. There are opportunities to reduce this waste throughout the growing, harvesting, and consuming process. A practical method such as farm gleaning could reduce gas emissions that come from the food system by 11% [10].
How Rolling Harvest is Making an Impact
A great example of a gleaning volunteer program is Rolling Harvest Food Rescue. They have partnered with over 40 local farmers to share fresh produce with food-insecure communities and educate the recipients about nutrition and cooking with the support of devoted volunteers. Since its inception in 2010, Rolling Harvest Food Rescue’s goal has been to “increase access to donated fresh produce and other healthy foods to area hunger-relief sites that serve at-risk, food-insecure population” by supplying local farmers “with free delivery and distribution of their surplus” [11].
Rolling Harvest Food Rescue’s recipients include a wide range of communities such as low-income senior centers, food pantries, at-risk low income adults with health challenges, children and family homelessness shelters, and domestic violence shelters. The gleaning volunteers help with harvesting from the fields, pick-up and delivery from over 40 different farms and food producers, and aid with weekly distribution to over 60 hunger relief sites. Rolling Harvest Food Rescue and Free Farm Markets partner to give weekly “Nutrition Education Outreach'' at sites to show the recipients how to cook the produce and reduce waste.
Rolling Harvest Food Rescue works with numerous types of gleaning volunteers from corporate and community service groups to individuals and youth groups to service those in need. Rolling Harvest has distributed over 2 million pounds of locally grown fruits and vegetables, organic meats and organic produce. That equates to roughly 10 million more servings of healthy, fresh food to thousands of hungry families.
Due to the increased need and demand for this volunteer work, Rolling Harvest Food Rescue partnered with tech company MilkCrate to create an app, Rolling Harvest. The app was created for gleaning volunteers to learn about volunteer opportunities, access training resources, receive live updates, and track volunteer hours. The app features challenges to get involved with the gleaning community, a volunteer schedule to see upcoming opportunities to register and join, a list of farms to locate and drop off locations. Lastly, there is a space for volunteers to post updates and see their peers’ activity. To learn more about Rolling Harvest, visit their case study here to learn how MilkCrate worked with Rolling Harvest to built an app.
This image is from Rolling Harvest’s Annual Impact Report. It conveys their progress and achievements throughout COVID. For more information about their journey, visit their website here: https://rollingharvest.org/
Farm Gleaning is an important, impactful, and fun way to serve communities in need. Some of the top reasons people should volunteer for farm gleaning include helping address food insecurity, reducing food waste, addressing major contributors to climate change, and helping farmers make the most of their labors and the resources that go into food production. To find a gleaning volunteer role near you visit https://nationalgleaningproject.org/gleaning-map/.
Are you aware of a farm gleaning organization in your area? Share our Rolling Harvest Case Study to show them how MilkCrate can help. Visit our glean team app page here.
Citations
[1]. Seldman, Neil. “Single Stream Recycling: Explaining the Waste Knot.” Institute for Local Self-Reliance, 24 Sept. 2018,
ilsr.org/explaining-the-waste-knot/
[2]. “Sustainable Management of Food Basics.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 13 Jan. 2021, www.epa.gov/sustainable-management-food/sustainable-management-food-basics
[3]. “What Is Food Insecurity in America?” Hunger and Health, hungerandhealth.feedingamerica.org/understand-food-insecurity/
[4]. The Impact of Poverty, Food Insecurity, and Poor Nutrition on Health and Well-Being. Food Research & Action Center, frac.org/wp-content/uploads/hunger-health-impact-poverty-food-insecurity-health-well-being.pdf.
[5]. “The Environmental Impact of Food Waste.” Move For Hunger, moveforhunger.org/the-environmental-impact-of-food-waste.
[6]. “Food Waste in America: Facts and Statistics (2021 Update).” Rubicon, 1 Mar. 2021, www.rubicon.com/blog/food-waste-facts/#:~:text=Food%20waste%20is%20the%20number%20one%20material%20in%20America's%20landfills,for%20one%20in%20six%20people.
[7]. “Senior Hunger Poses Unique Challenges.” Feeding America, www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/senior-hunger-facts.
[8]. “Hunger Deprives Our Kids of More than Just Food.” Feeding America, www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/child-hunger-facts.
[9]. “Communities Experience Hunger at a Much Higher Rate.” Feeding America, www.feedingamerica.org/
[10]. “Fight Climate Change by Preventing Food Waste.” WWF, World Wildlife Fund, www.worldwildlife.org/stories/fight-climate-change-by-preventing-food-waste.
[11]. “Mission Statement & Goals.” Rolling Harvest Food Rescue, rollingharvest.org/