Gleaning is the practice of harvesting unused or surplus produce and distributing it to those experiencing food insecurity. It reduces food loss, provides access to fresh produce and builds community connections. This practice has long historical standing and is mentioned in many religious texts from around the globe, when farmers would intentionally leave produce in the fields to be harvested by the hungry. Today, gleaning occurs on small farms, commercial farms, at farmers markets, in backyards, and from urban fruit and nut trees.
The Clallam County Gleaning Program was created almost a decade ago by Meggan Uecker, who at the time was the WSU Waste Reduction Specialist. Meggan pursued a partnership with Harvest Against Hunger, a unique Seattle nonprofit that connects farmers, truckers, volunteers and communities to reduce hunger and food waste. That partnership provided an Americorps VISTA position for three years at WSU and it built the Gleaning Program to the point where it had 300+ volunteers on the list, and upwards of 50,000 pounds of fruits and veggies coming into the food banks during the harvest season. The gleaning program became the glue that solidified much of the food access work of the Peninsula Food Coalition and the network of partners that work on food security issues.
For example, the gleaning program helped build and expand the farm-to food bank movement in Clallam County. In 2015 the Peninsula Food Coalition, with then Port Angeles Food Bank Director Jessica Hernandez and then Sequim Food Bank Director Mark Ozias, witnessed the positive impact that the gleaning of local fruits and vegetables had on the food banks. The most important impact was the appreciative response from the visitors to the food banks. The overwhelmingly positive response sparked visions of expanding the fresh offerings, which led to a survey given to food bank recipients. The survey resulted in data that showed that fresh local food was highly desired, the visitors wanted produce. “Gleaning was our first success, that was where we realized the potential.” stated Jessica Hernandez in 2016. Now food banks have made great strides in supporting the distribution of fresh local produce and this is steadily increasing and improving.
For the past five years, Sharah Truett, a WSU Clallam Extension employee, has been the Coordinator of the gleaning program. Her work entails tracking the gleans available, being in touch with prior gleaning sites, fielding new inquiries and steadily building and informing the gleaning community of what is available and when. Additionally, Sharah has administered the Farm to Food Pantry program which pays farmers for vegetables grown for the food banks. This type of contract program has grown dramatically, in part due to the CARES Act and pandemic relief efforts of the past two years. This year the WSDA has awarded Clallam County $22,000 in Farm to Food Pantry contracts thru 2023.
Gleaning has also reached the Lower Elwha Tribe through the work of Vicki Zmuda who started the Native Gleaning program. A tribal member herself who grew up in the Lower Elwha tribe, Vicki has organized a network of gleans and gleaners for tribal members. The program has been a great success. Vicki says, “It’s building a lot of community. I think that might be the best part of the gleaning.”
The new Port Angeles Food Bank is in process of constructing a kitchen and will work in partnership with the WSU Extension food access team to use gleaned food, excess food bank food, and fresh produce purchased through the farm to food bank program to create shelf-stable products such as applesauce and jam that can be distributed year round across the peninsula. Particularly in fall and early winter when there is a glut of fresh fruit and produce, this kitchen will ensure it will not go to waste. Additionally, they are constructing a deli where gleaned food will be cooked into healthy meals, hot meals that can be eaten on site or taken to go by food bank visitors.
Gleaning efforts kicked off years ago have catalyzed a positive growth trajectory that continues to be in motion and impactful. Moving forward at WSU Extension Clallam, we will be hiring a full time employee to manage our Farm to Food Pantry Program, overseeing contracts and logistics of this thriving effort. Stay tuned for details.
You can contribute to farms and food access by donating to the Farm to Food Pantry Program. Your donation will be used to buy fresh produce from a Clallam County farm that will be distributed to a Clallam County Food Bank. We are close to having an account ready to receive your donations and will keep you posted as that comes to completion.