Gleaning

What is gleaning? you may ask. Good question! If you are familiar with the Old Testament, gleaning is mentioned a number of times. At harvest time, farmers would deliberately leave part of their field unpicked, or not hassle about collecting every last head of grain. Therefore, the poor and hungry could follow behind the harvesters and 'glean' a portion of the crop.

Gleaning for us at CVV is a bit different, seeing how the number of grain fields in downtown Denver is slim =) However, we do gain a sizeable portion of our monthly food by gleaning from local supermarkets and coffee shops. Several establishments, including Spinelli's Markets and It's A Grind, gladly give us almost-overripe produce, dented cans, and pastries that would otherwise be pitched due to stringent food safety regulations. Every week our gleaning dividends vary, depending on the current foods in season and/or almost out of season. Tuesday is like Christmas, a new surprise every week!

Early in our year, one of my housemates posed a question - "Isn't gleaning like stealing from the poor? Aren't there other people who need this food more than we do, for example non-college graduates, without a food stipend?" A reply was posed, along with a modern definition of gleaning - "Gleaning is living off the excess of others." Think about your own pantry and trash can. Even with the best intentions, how often does food, particularly perishable items, travel from the store to the trash can, bypassing the table due to lack of time or mere overabundance? This scenario on a commerical scale translates into boxes upon boxes of food thrown away, willingly or not, by food markets and cafes.

On Fridays, I see gleaning up-close. I spend the morning sorting fruits and vegetables for Broadway Assistance Center, a downtown food pantry. BAC receives superfluous food from local markets and gives it away to folks in need. Every Friday, I estimate about 80 people make their way through the line, requesting semi-fresh produce and slightly-stale pastries. But even after the dust settles and everyone has received their desired amount, there still remain several dozen crates of food, destined to either a subsequent food pantry or, more likely at this bottom-rung stage of the food distribution system, the dumpster.

It makes me wonder - how is it that anyone goes hungry? Is it lack of accessibility? Not being in the right place at the right time? Lack of knowledge that such legal avenues such as gleaning exist to get fine food for free? I for one have become a enthusiastic fan of gleaning - despite the lack of choice in what Spinelli's gifts us with, the price is right, and, arguably more important, we gleaners are transforming the refuge of a saturated society into our daily bread.