Collective Impact
How time flies by… almost two months since my last update!
With so many things to share, I think I’ll attempt to do several smaller blog post over the remaining months of 2012. We have made some great progress on the development of our Vermont Commodities Program with partners around the state and most actively at Green Mountain College this summer and fall. We are excited to begin a new processing project in the Windham County region as winter quickly approaches. Just this past weekend, with volunteer support, we processed and froze more than 550 servings of bell pepper to be used in charitable/emergency meals throughout the winter.
Our work with the Department of Corrections keeps moving forward and we have confidence that by this time next month we will be very close to packing (if not having already packed) the first few tons of potatoes at the Southeast State Correctional Facility – just in time for Thanksgiving!
Our last post highlighted the Vermont Fresh Handbook – a document that Salvation Farms’ original co-founder Jen O’Donnell began building in 2005. We are so excited to have a polished document for download and purchase. If you choose to purchase a copy your funds will go to support the important work Salvation Farms is doing with cross-sector partners to increase efficient farm surplus management in Vermont.
Gleaning In Vermont
On October 9th & 10th I took part in Vermont’s Farm to Plate Network gathering. The Farm to Plate initiative began through a state legislative appropriation to the Vermont Sustainable Jobs Fund to build a ten year strategic plan to increase the consumption of Vermont grown foods while also building the agricultural sector, its economic impact, and overall food accessibility in the state.
At the gathering I was asked to make a mini (and I mean mini – 1 minute) presentation of the collective impact of gleaning in Vermont in 2012. Given Salvation Farms' top priorities (to scale-up Vermont’s commitment to gleaning as a means to increase food access, lessen our dependence on food from far away to feed some of our most vulnerable populations and to increase the efficiency of in-state management of available food resources), I was excited to begin the shift to greater connectivity of gleaning initiatives in Vermont and to gain acknowledgement from the farm and food industries that this is a viable practice for feeding more Vermonters our own home grown food.
Here is what I was able to share with the network: Gleaning is the practice of engaging citizen in the collection of farm produce that is not making it into the market place; it is surplus. Gleaned produce is then made available to demographics that typically lack access to regionally produce, farm fresh foods.
Six formal gleaning initiatives serve six regions in Vermont coordinated by five different organizations, the Intervale Center in Burlington, Addison Co/HOPE, Rutland Area Farm & Food Link (RAFFL), Willing Hand in the Upper Valley region, and the Vermont Foodbank in the greater Brattleboro region and the Lamoille Valley region (the Lamoille Valley region was where the original Salvation Farms community-based gleaning model developed).
Combined, these initiatives engage and serve more than 100 Vermont farms. All groups depend on volunteers to get the work done. By October 1st, volunteer hours totaled more than 1100 statewide. Each program is staffed, mostly part-time, seasonal and often with paid intern support. In total these programs and their volunteers have captured just over 250,000 pounds of farm surplus this year.
Gleanings are distributed primarily in the region where they are produced. Much of this produce is provided to sites serving the state's food insecure populations; however some is distributed directly to individuals as is the case with the Intervale’s Free Food Share Program. Deliveries of gleanings occur in each region once a week during the peak gleaning season and some product is available for pick-up by food service providers as is the case with the Vermont Foodbank’s gleanings. Willing Hands, where the organization moves rescued perishable fresh food almost 365 days a year, distributes gleanings within hours or a day of harvesting.
Gleaning occurs year round from farm fields, pack houses, storage facilities and farmers markets. During the peak growing and harvesting season, which in Vermont spans from May through November, gleanings occur weekly and quite often multiple times a week depending on the number of farms involved and the organization’s commitment and ability to managing their region’s farm surplus foods.
Each organization compliments their gleaning programs with some educational components. Most provide take home recipes and some help coordinate taste tests/sampling at food access sites. Some organizations have developed support guides for storage and identification of produce or eating and buying local on a limited budget, while others coordinate events featuring cooking demos and networking opportunities for site workers and volunteers.
One key piece to having successful, regionally based, gleaning that is collaborative and connected statewide is the understanding that, in the words of Sam Dixon who assisted RAFFL’s Grow-a-Row program this season, many hands make light work.
Until next time – Be well & Eat well
Theresa
