Gleaning 

There is an ancient, biblical and lost custom of not reaping the corners of a field, and not going over the field again after the first harvest, to allow those in need to collect what was left behind. In a recent article in England Naturally, gleaning is described as ‘the ancient practice of harvesting leftover produce from the fields, then giving it to hungry people, to stop it going to waste’
(https://englandnaturally.com/gleaning-food).

Recently the UK government announced it had set up a £15m ‘Tackling Food Surplus at the Farm Gate' fund to cover the cost to charities of getting surplus good food from farms to communities. Unfortunately this doesn't financially incentivise farmers to distribute their surplus to those in need, and how much of this will benefit local small charities remains to be seen, but hopefully there will be a positive impact on health and obesity for those for whom unhealthy, fattening food is the cheapest, and often the only, option.

A Director of Public Health Report states: 'Affordability influences access to healthy foods and, for families on a lower income, a healthy diet may be unaffordable. The poorest fifth of UK households would need to spend 47% of their disposable income on food to meet the cost of the Government recommended healthy diet. This compares to just 11% for the richest fifth.’ There is a clear need for healthy food to be distributed to those who can't afford it.

The Veg Box Donation Scheme (VBDS) veg boxes enable those in food poverty to have a healthy diet. We purchase most of our produce but would love to be able to ‘glean’ for fresh fruit and veg. A farm shop near Royston recently allowed us to collect pumpkins free of charge after their pick-your-own scheme ended; a local community garden donate a large proportion of their harvest, as do some apple orchards.



Could you help too?
• If you are a farmer, you could allow charities and community groups to glean your fields once you have harvested, perhaps leaving a bit on the edges for this.
• If you are a community gardener, an allotment gardener or a home veg gardener, donate a % of your crop to us or your local foodbank.
• If you are not any of these, but you want to help, buy some fruit and vegetables, and donate them.
• If you would like to be involved in gleaning, or set up a gleaning network, contact us or see https://gleaning.feedbackglobal.org/.
Contact VBDS on hello@vbds.org.uk for more info.