1/5 of all children in the US under the age of 18 live in poverty.
There is enough food grown to feed everyone on earth a daily diet of 2350 calories.
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American child is born into poverty every 32 seconds.
1/5 of all children in the US under the age of 18 live in poverty. There is enough food grown to feed everyone on earth a daily diet of 2350 calories. |
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The Gleaning Project began in April of 1999. The idea for this project originated from discussion of nutrition concerns in Chautauqua County among members of the Food and Nutrition Focus Group. Gleaning, or gathering is a practice that dates back to biblical times when farmers were to leave the corners of their fields for the poor to pick.
Many people in the country experience a lack of fresh fruits and vegetables in their diet. This places them at greater risk of under-nutrition. Each year thousands of pounds of food goes to waste while many people do not get enough to eat. The Gleaning Project has rescued a portion of that food to help meet those hunger needs.
Funding for the first year was provided by a grant through the Gebbie Foundation. This project is a collaborative effort between local growers, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Jamestown, the Chautauqua County Rural Ministry. We have lost the Lakeview Shock Incarceration Facility as a gleaning partner recently due to changes in state regulations.
Female work crews gleaned on fifteen occasions which yielded nearly 56,000 pounds of produce. Growers donated an additional 15,800 pounds throughout the season. A local distributor donated 7,700 pounds of frozen bread dough. the food was distributed to over sixty sites in the county including soup kitchens, food pantries, senior dining sites, senior housing areas, and children's summer camps. Recipients enjoyed over thirty different varieties of fruits and vegetables.
GLEANING YEAR 2001
In the spring of 2001, we were informed by the State Warden that the inmates at Lakeview Shock facilities throughout the New York State could no longer glean on farmer's fields. However, inmates were permitted to distribute, work in warehouses and do construction. Consequently, the gleaning was primarily done by the project coordinator and part-time assistants. We were able to get volunteers, but most of what was gleaned was done by the staff. Volunteers and staff gleaned 46,000 pounds of produce from over 20 different donors, distributing to over 30 local sites throughout Chautauqua County which otherwise would have been left in the fields to waste.
Gleaners harvest useable produce and redistribute it to those in need...
