What is Gleaning?
Gleaning is an age-old custom, perhaps as old as agriculture itself! It is the practice of gathering crops, which are edible yet deemed unmarketable by commercial farmers, and donating them to feed the hungry. It’s a cost effective way to serve fresh, nutritious meals to thousands of hungry people while helping to reduce food waste.
How Do I Get Involved?
Every year, Capital Roots arranges several field gleanings for volunteers to help comb our region’s farmland for excess crops. Because produce has a short shelf life, farmers are usually only able to give us short notice. We rise to the occasion by taking a flash-mob approach to volunteerism and encouraging anyone, including kids, to join the tomato, cabbage or apple picking fun! All the produce we glean is donated directly to local pantries and shelters within 24 hours of being picked. Now that’s fresh!
If you are a volunteer interested in receiving notifications about upcoming gleanings contact volunteer@capitalroots.org or 518-274-8685. If you are a farmer interested in having your fields gleaned by Capital Roots, please contact squashhunger@capitalroots.org or 518-274-8685.