What is “gleaning?” We’re so glad you asked.
Last fall, as we got ready to tuck everything in for the winter, we had the opportunity to work with Oberlin Community Services’ food rescue program. Through the program, Oberlin Community Services identifies food that local businesses would otherwise discard and brings it in to their food pantry to to distribute to families in need. While there is a lot of community support for food pantries, one area where there is consistently a struggle is with providing fresh, healthy options for recipients.
That’s where gleaning comes in.
Historically, “gleaning” is an ancient practice of gathering food after commercial harvests have been completed. Crops remaining in the field after the last commercial harvest typically aren’t available in the quantities that would make their harvest worthwhile to farmers — instead, they are tilled into the soil and become part of the nutrients for next year’s crops.
Because we use crop rotation and cover crops to keep our soil healthy, we’re not as reliant on tilling in the remains from other crops. Our land was the perfect candidate for this kind of work.
Together with volunteers from our community, we harvested everything that was still growing. As a result of a couple strategic gleaning days, we were able to provide more than 400 pounds of fresh, organically grown produce to area families.
We are overjoyed to be part of the community in this way and are purposefully planning for it again as we lay out our planting calendar for the 2021 season. Gleaning is just one of the reasons we believe in keeping a strong relationship between the farmer and the community. As Marcia is fond of saying, “know your farmer. Know your food.”
We also plan to continue to work with Avon and Avon Lake Community Resource Services (CRS) to ensure that fresh, healthy foods are available for local residents in need during the season. Would you like to learn more about the community organizations we support? visit our Partners page.
*Photos taken and generously shared by Ron Jantz of Jantz Photography.
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