In the year 2020, farm level food waste skyrocketed due to the huge disruption to the food system from the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile demand for food banks and emergency food distribution hit an unprecedented level of need and continues to increase today due to spiralling. Whilst these two issues are distinct and one cannot resolve the other, gleaning offers an opportunity for straightforward environmental and social action – food waste on farms is reduced, the complexity of UK food & farming is better understood, communities engage directly in social action, and marginalised communities are able to access more fresh fruit and vegetables.
In an effort to continue to spread gleaning nationwide, Feedback hosted a series of 4 training webinars for community groups interested in initiating, or were at the early stages of setting up a local gleaning group. The weekly webinars are available to view online – if your organisation is interested in taking part in gleaning then reviewing these resources is a great place to find a bit more information.
Focus of the webinars – click here for links to the videos
The first webinar was an introduction to gleaning and the role it can play in reducing farm level food waste; supplying wholesale volumes of fresh produce to organisations supporting struggling to access fresh fruit and veg.
The second and third webinars covered the “how to’s” of gleaning, including practical and logistical aspects of distributing food and the recruiting, supervising and safety of volunteers.
The final webinar focused on supporting organisations to get their gleaning operations established and ways that they can build volunteer networks, obtain funding and different ways of affiliating the work.
These webinars build on the Gleaning Toolkit, published in 2019, illustrated with stories of success and learnings from what didn’t go so well. The webinars were led by experienced gleaning coordinators Phil Holtam and James Turner. We also invited guest gleaners to hear from their experiences and commercial growers who have hosted the Gleaning Network in the past.
https://gleaning.feedbackglobal.org/resources-for-se…r-gleaning-group/
Follow up support
Following the webinars, we offered financial support to help groups with the cost of getting off the ground, including for travel and equipment expenses.