‘Close’ being a distance you personally are willing to travel!
Contents
Is Gleaning for Me?
Do you live close to farms where fruit or vegetables are grown?
If you live in an urban environment or in a region dominated by arable, dairy and livestock farming but not a lot of fruit or veg, gleaning may not be for you. However, you may want to think about Urban Harvesting – harvesting from fruit trees owned by locals who can’t use all of their harvest.
There are also plenty of other ways to get involved with Feedback or in salvaging food surplus with other organisations.
If you are unsure if there are the right growers around you, the toolkit will provide you with useful tips on how to find farmers in your area. If it turns out there aren’t any appropriate growers in your region (some areas of the country are dominated by arable, diary and livestock farming but not a lot of fruit or veg), there are plenty of other ways to get involved in salvaging food surplus.
Are you part of a local community group?
This isn’t essential. Gleaning can be run by individuals or groups of people. The reason we ask this question, is connecting with a community group may make it easier to recruit volunteers and share the logistical tasks. The toolkit will provide tips on recruiting volunteers and beneficiaries.
This isn’t essential. Gleaning can be run by individuals or groups of people. The reason we ask this question, is connecting with a community group may make it easier to recruit volunteers and share the logistical tasks. The toolkit will provide tips on recruiting volunteers and beneficiaries.
Do you know, or would be able to recruit, a keen group of volunteers who’d be willing to harvest surplus produce?
This will not affect your ability to glean – from our experience, it is relatively easy to recruit volunteers once people realise what gleaning entails! We provide tips in the handbook for recruiting groups of keen volunteers.
This will not affect your ability to glean – from our experience, it is relatively easy to recruit volunteers once people realise what gleaning entails! We provide tips in the handbook for recruiting groups of keen volunteers.
Do you know of projects or organisations who would be able to receive the gleaned produce?
There is a chapter in the toolkit which focuses on finding and working with beneficiaries, as well other creative ways to use the surplus.
There is a chapter in the toolkit which focuses on finding and working with beneficiaries, as well other creative ways to use the surplus.
Do you have some time in your weekly schedule to set up gleaning activities and organise gleaning days??
This again is all relative to how much time you individually, or as a group, are able to set aside. Initially, you will need a little more time to set up your hub but once it has been established, the gleaning days will take less and less organisation time.
Setting up your hub and creating the networks and relationships between farmers, volunteers and beneficiaries will initially take a little time. If you, or your community, realistically don’t have time to research and forge those relationships, then gleaning may not be for you. Although gleaning is relatively self sustaining, there is a logistical role for each gleaning day organised that will take several hours prior to and after your day of harvesting. Have a read of the toolkit to get a better idea of the time needed, but there are also other ways you can get involved with food salvaging which require less of a time commitment.
The toolkit will give a little more of an idea about what is in involved in setting up and running your gleaning hub which should help you make a decision about whether you will have the time in your weekly schedule. Setting up your hub and creating the networks and relationships between farmers, volunteers and beneficiaries is initially what will take a little more time. Once this has been set up, gleaning an activity is relatively self sustaining bu there is a logistical role for each gleaning day organised that will take several hours prior to and after your day of harvesting.
Your Responses
If you live close to farms but do not have access to volunteers or redistribution networks, our toolkit will provide you with key information on how to access these groups.
If you don’t live near enough to farms who grow fruit or veg, gleaning may not be for you. However, that is not to say your food saving endeavours are over before they have begun. There are many other ways you can get involved with preventing food waste, including: urban harvesting (many urban areas are abundant with fruit trees that never get harvested) or food redistribution (there are likely lots of volunteering opportunities at some of our ally organisations all over the country).
If it is a case of not having enough time, regional gleaning is a project that could easily be shared amongst a group of people with a common interest (it’s perfect for existing community groups). Have a read of our toolkit to better understand the process and to see how you could share out the tasks.
Congratulations!
It sounds like you have everything in place to start setting up your gleaning hub! Have a read through of our toolkit to better understand the mechanisms for setting up your hub and running a gleaning day.