Glean ' til You're Clean

Gleaning is the gathering of grain or produce that is left behind after the initial harvest. Historically the Fruit Tree Project has only picked fruit, however, our motto "Harvest the Abundance" also fits with gleaning.

Background on Gleaning

The economics of the agri-food industry often prohibit a farmer from harvesting her/his field if the cost exceeds that of the sale. Once the grade A quality food is harvested and sold to conventional retail stores, the farmer's field usually remains full of unconventionally sized or shaped veggies. A farmer (due to simple economics of the market) will deem the remaining crop commercially invaluable and leave it in the field. Glean 'Til You're Clean will offer farmers an alternative - the opportunity to provide the community with access to local fresh food.

Reasons To Glean

In Victoria, many women report that they go without fresh produce and are unable to meet the needs of their children. Food bank hampers provide limited produce and are only available once per month.

The most recent statistics from the Ministry of Human Resources in Victoria identifies that a family of four on BC Benefits could not afford to pay their housing costs as well as purchase nutritious food to meet the needs of their family members.

Gleaning Makes A Difference

Since 1996, Making Connections, a gleaning project in Toronto, has gleaned almost 10 million pounds of food.