Food Recovery and Gleaning




What is Food Recovery and Gleaning?

According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the terms "food recovery" and "gleaning" refer to programs that collect excess wholesome food for delivery to hungry people. Gleaned and recovered food can provide nutritious additions to the diets of millions of Americans that are facing food shortages.

According to the USDA, there are four basic types of food recovery, which they describe as follows:

1. Gleaning

Gleaning involves either hand picking or mechanical harvesting of nutritious food from farms or orchards. For example, one food recovery organization, the Society of St. Andrew, retrieves donated produce from a field or packing house, and then ships it across the United States. In the past, this organization has gleaned more than 200 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to assist those in need.

2. Salvaging perishable produce

Often, wholesale food markets and retail grocery stores are unable to sell all of the fruits and vegetables they are selling, even though the products are still ripe and wholesome. Rather than allow the produce to perish, one organization, From the Wholesaler to the Hungry, has helped more than 60 communities establish programs to rescue fresh fruits and vegetables, and re-direct them to food assistance organizations.

3. Food rescue

According to the USDA, "food rescue" refers to the retrieval of surplus food from restaurants, corporate cafeterias, and caterers, so that the food does not go to waste. One of the greatest challenges in this process is to ensure food safety through the proper storage and refrigeration of the collected food. Foodchain is a national food rescue organization that collects and safely distributes rescued food to food assistance organizations.

4. Collecting processed, non-perishable food

Much of our food supply comes in the form of canned and boxed goods that have been processed, are not easily perishable, and usually have long shelf lives. Food manufacturers, grocery stores, and even people's homes, often accumulate an excess of these goods. A good way to make use of any excess supplies of these goods is to donate them to those in need. Second Harvest, the largest charitable hunger relief organization in the United States, is a leader in the collection of nonperishable foods.

How much food is wasted in the United States?

According to a 1997 USDA study, approximately 96 billion pounds (i.e., over 25%) of the nation's total production of 356 billion pounds of food that is produced for human consumption in the U.S. each year, is lost at the retail and food service levels.

What national food recovery initiatives currently exist?

The USDA has taken a variety of steps to promote food recovery, including the following:

How are food donors protected by law?

The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act of 1996 provides uniform national protection to citizens, businesses, and nonprofit organizations that, in good faith donate, recover, or distribute excess food. The act encourages the donation of food and grocery products to nonprofit organizations, such as homeless shelters, soup kitchens, and churches for distribution to needy individuals.

Basically, the act states that, except for instances of gross negligence or intentional misconduct, persons, gleaners, and nonprofit organizations shall not be subject to civil or criminal liability arising from the nature, age, packaging or condition of apparently wholesome food or apparently fit grocery products received as donations. The act also establishes basic standard definitions pertaining to donation and distribution of nutritious foods, and helps to assure that donated foods meet all quality and labeling standards of federal, state, and local laws and regulations.


 

What can we do to promote food recovery?

The USDA provides a range of suggestions for promoting food recovery:

Businesses and corporations can start or join a food recovery program. They can also donate excess prepared and processed food to local food recovery programs; donate transportation, maintenance work, or computer services; and prepare legal information on "Good Samaritan" laws, food safety, and quality.

Food service professionals can organize a food drive and donate food to a local food bank or pantry. They can also donate excess prepared food from restaurants or catered events; and assist organizations in training their volunteers in safe food handling practices.

Nonprofit organizations can work independently, or with other organizations, to recover food. They can also support or develop a community or regional coalition against hunger; plan tours of food recovery facilities; and make their communities aware of hunger and poverty problems and what people can do to address them.

Youth service groups and volunteer organizations can work on their own, or with other organizations, to recover food. They can also organize essay, oratorical or art contests on hunger for schoolchildren, or sponsor a community garden that gives part of its harvest to food banks, soup kitchens, and other food recovery programs.

Individuals can volunteer at a food recovery program. They can also attend food safety training sessions to prepare for volunteering in a soup kitchen or shelter. They can also suggest that organizations and employers sponsor food recovery programs; join or form a community walk or run to benefit a food recovery program; and/or organize and/or donate to food drives.

What resources are available to promote food recovery?

There are a range of organizations, at both the state and national levels, that can provide more information about food recovery and gleaning, including how to set up an effective program. These include the following organizations:

A. Mississippi Organizations:

Society of St. Andrew

Twelve Baskets Food Bank (part of the Second Harvest network)

The Gleaners, Inc. (part of the Foodchain network)

Mississippi Food Network (part of the Second Harvest network)

USDA Farm Service Agency - Mississippi State Office

 

B. National Organizations:

USDA Food Recovery and Gleaning Initiative

The Chef and the Child Foundation

Congressional Hunger Center

Foodchain

From the Wholesaler to the Hungry

Second Harvest

Society of St. Andrew


The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by Mississippi State University.