PNW Gleaning Conference 2013

By Paige Teeny WFC Member Services Director

Gleaning has been traced back to the biblical days. However, its modern uses are a vital source for the emergency food system around the Northwest. In order to share some best practices and to connect gleaners, food banks, and other food systems, Oregon Food Bank and Rotary First Harvest co hosted the first Pacific Northwest Gleaner’s Conference. Held at the Oregon Food Bank, agencies from Washington to California gathered to talk about how they glean and how to bring that food directly to people.

One of the features of the conference was from Salem Harvest of Willamette Valley, OR showcasing their gleaning website that last year helped coordinate 100 harvests with over 150,000lbs of food produced with virtually no staff! If any of our members are interested in how their website and want to get involved, simply visit gleanweb.org to learn how it works.

The conference also included a knowledgeable gleaning panel that included gleaners, growers, and food banks. In an open discussion, everyone was welcome to pose questions to the panel and the larger group about best practice, volunteer coordination, and management. What made this conference unique was the afternoon’s  “open conference” where small groups gathered to talk about group proposed topics. Someone of the topics included GAP Certification, Engaging Low-Income Communities, Volunteer Management, and Urban/Residential Farming.

The sessions I attended were Urban/Residential Farming and Engaging Low-Income Communities. In Engaging Low-Income Communities, we all agreed that there needed to be greater connection between the people receiving the food and the food that is harvested. In Urban/Residential Farming, we discussed how farmers markets could be a great place to advertise your organizations. One idea discussed is to  have a sign up sheet at the farmer's market where people can volunteer. Also, going around to each of the farms/stands explaining what you do with the food and how they can help increases the likely hood that they will want to donate. In urban areas, connecting with donors and volunteers to grow food in a community garden or in their private garden is another opportunity to pursue. If they have fruit trees that overproduce or they choose not to harvest it themselves, you can offer to have volunteers harvest the fruit and give them a box of their bounty!

One of Washington Food Coalition member, Hopelink, was represented at the conference by their gleaning project Sno-Valley Harvest. The project aims to serve the communities in the Snoqualmie Valley and believes “Everyone deserves access to healthy food”. Sno-Valley increases access to healthy and locally grown food in Hopelink food banks by gleaning surplus food donated by farms, farmers markets, and individual donors. In 2012, Sno-Valley harvested and collected an incredible 27,000 pounds of fresh locally grown foods to food banks around the Snoqualmie area. Sno-Valley is an excellent example of connecting locally gleaned food to local food banks. If you are interested in connecting your food bank or your clients to this opportunity, check out Sno-Valley’s Facebook or their Hopelink website.

There are many other gleaning organizations around the state that partner with food banks. If you are interested in starting your own gleaning project, and excellent resource is Solid Ground’s “Gather it! How to organize an Urban FruitHarvest.” It is available online and free to the public. Connect with us to find fellow gleaning groups in your area or other food banks that have already started their gleaning projects! Thank you Oregon Food Bank and Rotary First Harvest for hosting the Conference! Enjoy the following video of Clark County Food Bank harvesting carrots!