In response to a food shortage, Spain started a “gleaning” movement to harvest the imperfect fruits and vegetables as opposed to harvesting only the immaculate-looking produce.
Considering Europe wastes around 88 million tons of food, about 143 billion euros worth, per year, this is an excellent plan. I just want to know why everyone isn’t doing the same thing to help feed their poorer populations.
Gleaning is actually incredibly good for the environment as well as the community. People that participate in the gleaning process are usually unemployed and work to harvest farmers’ unwanted crops to distribute to families and people in need.
Gleaning has the ability to reduce pressure on using all the arable land for farming as well as improving diets and making room for people excluded from society. How have we not thought of this?
In 2014, 17.5 million United States’ households were food insecure and 6.9 million households have low food security. Gleaning could allow millions of people in the U.S. to not only have food on their table but can also give many a sense of community and purpose.
Gleaning has a history in rural Spain that stems from a principle of dignity of the poor and collective food sharing and preparation. The recent rise in gleaning is in response to the government’s austerity measures and empty food banks.
The cost of food for many Americans is too high, especially for high quality produce. Gleaners in Spain are allowed to take home a crate of whatever they have picked for the day and can help out further by helping to distribute food to others.
The gleaners have a volunteer force of 100 that ranges from people with troubled pasts to 24-year-old art students inspired by documentaries about hunger across Europe.
The gleaners have sponsorship as well. Celebrity chef Ada Parellada has come out in support of the gleaning movement and has raised several thousand euros in support of manufacturing jams and other products made from the imperfect produce picked by gleaners. Companies like Unilever and Cargill have also spiked interest in the manufacturing side of the movement.
In our currently polarized and divided state of being in the U.S., a food project that brings people together would have tremendous positive effect. It wouldn’t be a cure-all by any means but a movement like this could seriously reduce U.S. food waste and improve the lives of anyone who is interested in volunteering.
If we could get farmers in the U.S. to agree to let a few hungry people pick their unwanted produce for free, we might be able to make a dent in food insecurity. This movement could have just as much effect in the U.S. as it does in Spain.
