Final Reflections of 2020: The Vermont Gleaning Collective
Salvation Farms was established in 2005 under the fiscal umbrella of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont a year after our co-founder and Executive Director, Theresa, piloted a gleaning project while employed at Pete’s Greens. After that summer’s launch of gleaning in an area connecting the Northeast Kingdom and the Lamoille Valley regions of Vermont, Theresa recruited Salvation Farms’ co-founder, Jen, who had helped glean as part of her summer farm semester program at Sterling College. Jen accepted the late 2004 invitation and helped Theresa build a non-profit gleaning model that could be adapted and replicated by other communities.
Jen O’Donnell, Salvation Farms’ co-founder gleaning at Pete’s Greens.
Theresa Snow, Salvation Farms’ co-founder gleaning at Pete’s Greens.
Over the course of their first four years working together, Theresa & Jen – with the aid of community volunteers and partners – gleaned nearly 90,000 pounds of produce that would have otherwise remained on farms, never to be eaten. These gleanings were distributed to community-based food programs in the southern reaches of Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom, throughout the Lamoille Valley – to sites that fed nutritionally insecure youth, seniors and families.
What is gleaning? It is the act of reaping after the harvest. From the pages of Salvation Farms’ Community-Based Gleaning, A How-To Guide, we share:
Gleaning is an ancient, agrarian custom in the world’s history dating back thousands of years. Since the 1970’s some states, religious societies, non-profit organizations and community organizations have revived the tradition.
“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field to its very border, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest. And you shall not strip your vineyard bare, neither shall you gather the fallen grapes of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the sojourner” (Leviticus 19:9-10)
Nearly half of Salvation Farms’ gleanings in its early years were donated to the Vermont Foodbank
The Hardwick Community Meal welcoming all.
“…so it was an early farm custom to leave a small open corner of the field nearest the road, for the poor… Gleaning was an ancient custom of the poor, who picked up the scraps of harvest, and the gleaners were therefore the needy.” –The Seasons of America’s Past, by Eric Sloane
Eric Sloane also points out that the astrological sign of Virgo, falling within the traditional harvest time (roughly August 23rd-September 22nd), was often represented as a gleaner and not as a reaper. Very interesting.
If you want to see gleaners in action, check out the documentary The Gleaners and I.
Between 2008-2011, Salvation Farms as a non-profit project paused in its existence. It’s co-founder, Theresa joined the ranks of the Vermont Foodbank’s staff filling a new position of Director of Agricultural Resources. She was charged with integrating Salvation Farms’ gleaning model into the operations of this statewide hunger-relief organization and helping build the organization’s capacity to work with farmers and handle increased volumes of produce. During this time, she established three regional gleaning initiatives within the Vermont Foodbank’s operations. In late 2010, Theresa began her exit from employment with the Vermont Foodbank to reestablish and federally incorporate Salvation Farms.
One initiative the newly incorporated Salvation Farms set out to create was a statewide network of community-based gleaning programs that were autonomous but that would commit to work in collaboration, creating a community of practice and bringing a level of professionalism to gleaning in Vermont.
Theresa leading a glean as Director of Agricultural Resources for the VT Foodbank at Harlow Farm in Westminster.
Since Salvation Farms’ start, we have aspired to inspire and support others in their desire to use surplus farm produce to educate and feed their communities – doing work farmers can’t afford to. To this end, we launched the Vermont Gleaning Collective concept with an informational meeting in 2013. Meeting attendees included: Intervale Center, Rutland Area Farm & Food Link (RAFFL), Willing Hands, and the Vermont Foodbank.
At this meeting, Salvation Farms framed its hopes for the envisioned Vermont Gleaning Collective, noting that its member organizations would remain autonomous in their community, brand and identity while exploring and modeling creative ways to serve and engage their community in reducing food loss on farms. As envisioned, Collective member organizations would work cooperatively with a collaborative vision, understanding the power of an individual organization's impact and of collective impact. At this meeting, Salvation Farms presented the primary components it sought to uphold in serving as backbone to the Collective:
The Gleaners Operations Manual - an operational guide for Collective member organizations
The Gleaners Interface - an interactive, online platform to serve the Collective by easing operational logistics associated with volunteer recruitment, engagement and management, and in tracking impact of each member organization while also aggregating the statewide impact of the Collective
The Training & Job Placement Program - a job placement and training program to fill and/or support gleaning coordinator roles within member organizations of the Collective
The Training Program Curriculum - a curriculum containing essential training components and certifications
In 2013, RAFFL stepped up to be the pilot member program of the Vermont Gleaning Collective. As such, they received direct technical assistance and training from Salvation Farms as they developed all aspects of their Glean Team program.
RAFFL’s Director and AmeriCorps VISTA member visit Evening Song Farm in the spring of 2013 to discuss how their Glean Team could serve them.
As Salvation Farms delivered on the above elements, RAFFL and future member organization engagement was solicited to: 1) evaluate operating systems defined in The Gleaners Operations Manual and adapt its contents to integrate recommended procedures necessary for scaling up gleaning capacity across regions in Vermont, 2) provide Gleaners Interface feedback guiding refinement of the online platform, 3) evaluate the training program by all involved, and 4) problem solve together and offer Collective refinements to the Gleaners Operations Manual and Training Curriculum.
The Gleaning Operations Manual and online platform for gleaning coordination and data tracking served beneficial, the job-placement and training program was only explored by RAFFL’s Glean Team and has yet to be further developed by any Collective member organization.
By end of 2014, the Collective consisted of five members – RAFFL, Intervale Center, HOPE, Community Harvest of Central Vermont, and Salvation Farms. The Collective’s website and volunteer registration platform was more than 200 volunteers strong! Tweaks continued as members used the platform and offered recommendations to make the tool even better. In its first year, we were pleased with its debut and looked forward to analyzing the Collective’s data after the yearend.
As the years passed, more members joined the Collective, quarterly meetings were held, guest presenters and trainings were organized, the Collective’s website improved, and collaboration between members began to grow. Several members began organizing gleans together and many utilized Salvation Farms’ surplus crop food hub for volumes they could not distribute in their region. Beyond providing one-on-one technical assistance to Collective members and group training at quarterly meetings, Salvation Farms organized First Aid/CRP training for all Collective gleaning coordinators, bulk ordering of gleaning supplies each spring, and sourcing of branded labels for each member to label their gleanings for distribution.
Collective members gathered for their 3rd Quarter Meeting of 2014 at Bella Farm in Monkton. Ginger Nickerson, of UVM Extension, delivered a Produce Safety training at this meeting.
At the Collective’s quarter meetings, trainings were held (on left, Chris Callahan of UVM Extension presents safe storage techniques) and guest were invited (on right, Jon Cohen of Deep Meadow Farm and George Gross of Dog River Farm share their perspectives on gleaning).
Meet the Vermont Gleaning Collective’s early adopters:
Rutland Area Farm & Food Link (RAFFL): In 2008, a RAFFL board member Julie Barber, then employee at Dutchess Farm in Castleton, connected with Salvation Farms' co-founder to learn about gleaning and subsequently began gleaning at Dutchess Farm, beginning the relationship that continued throughout all of RAFFL’s gleaning years. They formalized their efforts, the Glean Team, with support from Green Mountain College and Thomas Dairy in the summer of 2009.
“RAFFL has seen firsthand the benefit of being a member of the envisioned Vermont Gleaning Collective... As a direct result of receiving technical assistance, staff training and assessment of our region’s resources, we’ve expanded the consistency, reliability and professionalism of our program resulting in more frequent gleaning activities, deeper partnerships with area farmers, and a solid base of volunteers.”
-Tara Kelly, Executive Director, Rutland Area Farm & Food Link (quote from 2013)
Intervale Center: Starting in the early 2000s, through what was then their Healthy City program, the Intervale Center pioneered the first formal gleaning program in the state under the direction of Jenn McGowan, with youth as the primary volunteers. Theresa connected with Jenn in 2007 and guided the establishment of a data tracking system, beginning a collaboration that continues today. In 2012, the Intervale began exploring a unique system of distribution: gleaned produce shares. To meet a bigger produce need, they began gleaning outside the Intervale for the first time, at farms such as Jericho Settlers Farm exploring the role they could serve in Chittenden County.
“Working with Salvation Farms has been a valuable resource for the Intervale Gleaning & Food Rescue Program with regards to data tracking and community collaboration. It has been wonderful to work as part of a larger team to generate ideas and best practices for gleaning efforts.”
– Jessica Sanford, Intervale Center’s Gleaning & Food Rescue Coordinator (quote from 2014)
On the right, Jessica receives a hand off of gleaned zucchini from an Intervale gleaning volunteer.
Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects (HOPE):Corinne Almquist approached Salvation Farms' co-founder in 2009 to mentor her Compton Fellowship, and with Theresa’s support, set out to build a gleaning program to serve the Middlebury area. Corinne found a perfect partner in HOPE, where her efforts laid a foundation for HOPE’s current gleaning work. Several key volunteers, Middlebury FoodWorks interns, and staff have continued this work throughout Addison County capturing produce from wash-houses and directly from the fields.
“Organizing collectively takes a great deal of commitment, patience, and teamwork. Working with my peers on items such as our mission and general structure has created a greater understanding of the role gleaning can play in Vermont.”
–Lily Bradburn, HOPE, a Vermont Gleaning Collective Member (quote from 2016)
Lily (left) and Spencer Blackwell (right) of Elmer Farm pause for a photo during a winter farm visit to discuss the recent and coming gleaning seasons.
Community Harvest of Central Vermont: In 2013, the Montpelier-based food access agency Just Basics' then director Kimberley Lashua identified a gleaning opportunity that had emerged after the Foodbank paused their activities in the Capital region. However, Just Basics’ limited capacity made starting up a gleaning program a challenge. Allison Levin, a local gleaning volunteer, had a vision and the drive to build a gleaning program to serve this region and began doing so through an academic internship with Salvation Farms’ director serving as her sponsor. With critical support from Dog River Farm, Levin fostered relationships with surrounding farms, volunteers, and recipients while building on the original work of Just Basics, now a key program recipient.
“Community Harvest of Central Vermont is excited to be a member of the Vermont Gleaning Collective. The Gleaners Interface will decrease the time needed to complete administrative tasks, allowing us to focus our time on being in the fields recovering surplus food produced on Central Vermont farms.”
-Allison Levin, Community Harvest of Central Vermont’s Founder/Director (quote from 2015)
On the left, Allison chats with a volunteer driver after helping load their truck with the day's delivery of gleaned produce.
In 2015, the Collective gained a new member, Northwest VT Healthy Roots Collaborative. Healthy Roots, a regional food systems initiative supporting growers, producers, and consumers in Franklin and Grand Isle County, was founded by diverse community partners. These partner, who advise its projects and programs include: The Abbey Group, South Hero Land Trust, Franklin County Industrial Development Corp., Northwestern Medical Center, The Franklin Grand Isle Workforce Investment Board, CVOEO,Northwest Regional Planning Commission, and Hall Home Place. In the fall of 2014, outreach was made by Salvation Farms to Healthy Roots inquiring into their interest to join the Collective. After a presentation and meeting with Salvation Farms that included Heathy Roots advisors, coordinators, and some of the regions farmers, the decision was made that Healthy Roots would become the newest member of the Collective.
"Salvation Farms has provided expert guidance and mentoring that only comes from years of solid experience...we are lucky to benefit from the Collective's support as we inventory current and potential gleaning [opportunities] in the northwest corner of Vermont.”
-Kristen Hughes, Healthy Roots Coordinator (quote from 2015)
Kristen chats with Christine at Blue Heron Farm to discuss how a gleaning program might serve her farm.
By the end of 2015, the Collective’s website had registered more than 500 volunteers from around Vermont and proved its ability to aggregate data across all Collective member programs, showing the collective impact results of a now six-member strong Collective.
217,695 pounds of surplus farm produce gleaned – with a market value of more than $338,000
89 farms served
57 different crop types gleaned
784 unique individual volunteers
2,580 volunteer hours contributed – a total value of more than $56,500 ($21.91/hour in Vermont)
70 community-based food programs served (including the Vermont Foodbank and its network of 200+ agencies)
As the Collective grew, so did its brand development.
Between 2015-2016, the Collective defined its measures of success, quantitative (the how many) and qualitative (the how well) of their collective impact and developed its mission statement:
The Vermont Gleaning Collective collaborates as a state-wide partnership of autonomous, community-based programs that work and glean in solidarity to support farmers, residents, and the food system.
At its first quarter meeting of 2017, the Collective was honored to welcome Governor Phil Scott. During his remarks at this meeting, he stated: “This is such an exciting and enterprising way for all of us to give back. Volunteerism is so important in Vermont - it’s part of our tradition and culture - as well as agriculture. So, bringing this together - marrying the two - just seems like it fits so well.”
Vermont Governor Scott with representatives of the Vermont Gleaning Collective member organizations.
Framing the process and conversation of assessing and re-envisioning the Vermont Gleaning Collective’s working structure.
Within 2017, the Collective witnessed the departure of its founding member, RAFFL’s Glean Team, as the organization dissolved late in the year. This same year, the members of the Collective engaged in a deep exploration of its framework with facilitator Claire Wheeler of ReWork, aiming to strengthen the group’s collective impact and grow in its membership through potential restructuring of the Collective’s framework.
"The Vermont Gleaning Collective is currently working to create a more nuanced structure to better support all the like-minded but diverse gleaning programs in Vermont. Through working with a facilitator, I feel we uncovered our shared goal of integrating the local and charitable food systems into one more sustainable and equitable system."
-Allison Levin, Community Harvest of Central Vermont (quote from 2017)
In 2018, Willing Hands joined the members of the Vermont Gleaning Collective. An organization that got its start around the same time as Salvation Farms and who’s working relationship with Salvation Farms dates back almost as long, Willing Hands aims to reduce hunger by providing wholesome food to its community. Its methods for meeting this aim is rooted in retail food rescue and gardening. This work was quickly followed by the addition of gleaning to their activities.
Since the start of the Vermont Gleaning Collective and the aggregating of its members’ data, it is incredible to see the collective impact of its members' combined work. Last year, in 2019, the six Collective members collaborated with 138 farms, gathering nearly 410,000 pounds (1.2 million servings) of local produce, serving 178 food programs (including the Vermont Foodbank’s network). More than 1,765 unique volunteers donated nearly 9,000 hours to the Collective’s work.
65% of responding volunteers reported having a better understanding of food loss on farms and reported an increased awareness of local farms and the role they play in our food system.
89% of responding community-based food programs reported an increased understanding and familiarity of locally grown, in-season produce as a result of being served by a Collective member
90% of responding community-based food programs have greater interest in and comfort using fresh foods
In evaluating the Collective’s gleaning services, responding farms sighted assisting them with feeding more people had the greatest value for them followed by reducing food loss on their farm and promoting local farms.
Staff, AmeriCorps Members, and volunteers of Salvation Farms and Communuity Harvest of Central Vermont came together for a collaborative glean at Jericho Settlers Farm.
While we are on the threshold of a new year, 2020 really tested us - as people, as communities, and as a Collective. What the members of this Collective did individually and collectively will start to come clear as we enter 2021 and reflect on the crisis response steps we each took early this spring, the safety measures we adapted to continue serving farms, engaging volunteers, and delivering food to the increased number of neighbors in need. By the end of 2020, the number of volunteers registered with the Collective nears 1,500. Keep watch for spring updates to find out how many joined Collective members this year and how they helped farmers feed their communities. Many members went above and beyond their normal operations and engaged in regional crisis command centers, assisted with the distribution of USDA Famers to Families Food Boxes, and found homes for gallons upon gallons of Vermont’s surplus milk.
This fall, we asked each Collective member to offer a brief reflection on their work, their membership within the Collective, and what it means to be on the ground and on the frontline providing direct service to diverse members of Vermont communities, farms and eaters – volunteers and food programs.
A doctor, baker, and guidance counselor come together to harvest extra arugula so all can have access to fresh vegetables.
Community Harvest of Central Vermont – Washington County
“As gleaners we are connectors – helping the community grow stronger and better able to feed itself. This year more than ever we are bringing people together to do what is needed to keep us all safe and fed. Each Collective member has become stronger and more effective as we work together to make sure Vermont’s surplus food ends up where it is needed most.”
-Allison Levin
HOPE – Addison County
“Our continued gleaning and farm partnerships are made entirely possible because our community has rallied to provide support in such an unsure time. Whether a volunteer taking on more delivery routes or a local business shifting focus to providing food funds or masks, HOPE has seen an increased ability to aggregate surplus produce and provide much needed food access to Addison County.”
-Lily Bradburn
Maggie, a HOPE board member gleans apples at a private orchard in Cornwall.
Hannah gleans kale at Diggers’ Mirth Collective Farm.
Intervale Center – Chittenden County
“This year the Intervale Center has looked inward asking ourselves how can we do more? How can we meet the growing need, get our work done with significantly less volunteer power, and be a more inclusive and equitable organization? It has been a time of grit and creative collaboration and now more than ever, I value my work and commitment to my communities’ wellbeing.”
-Hannah Baxter
Healthy Roots Collaborative – Northwest Vermont
“During this time of increased need, Healthy Roots and our volunteers have been able to bring significantly more food to our sites in Franklin and Grand Isle counties. We are grateful to the farms that continue to provide gleaned produce and the Farmers to Families Food Box program that has expanded our selection with milk, butter, cheeses, and even more local produce.”
-Koi Boynton & Peter Jenkins
Peter and volunteer Marilyn Billings unload Farmers to Families Food Boxes.
Sharon Wight, a longtime volunteer gleans chard.
Willing Hands – Upper Valley (Orange & Windsor County)
“This year has been one of significant growth for Willing Hands. We built relationships with new farms, welcomed many new volunteers and held more regular gleans at some long-time partner farms. We are incredibly fortunate to be in an area where the community strives to provide healthy food for all.”
-Gabe Zoerheide
“During this year of uncertainty and social upheaval, farming and gleaning continue as staples of the landscape and community. Kale still stretched its leaves to the sky, tomatoes grew in abundance. Soon we’ll gather storage crops for the winter ahead with volunteers more dedicated to support each other and the community than ever before.”
-Emma Korowotny
Mother and son gleaning duo, Lynette and Carson, at Riverside Farm.
As the new year dawns, and farmers order seeds and plan their production for the coming season, the members of the Vermont Gleaning Collective will each be reflecting on the work of 2020 and regrouping to prepare for another field season. Many will continue collecting winter storage crops culled in the wash/pack houses of farms this winter. We here at Salvation Farms are excited to have increased our capacity to fulfill our backbone responsibility to the Vermont Gleaning Collective – to provide support to individual members and the Collective as a whole. We are also looking optimistically toward 2021 as it looks like the Collective might get a new member organization - and Vermont a new gleaning program to serve its most rural region.
The Vermont Gleaning Collective is one of many community-based efforts strengthening local food systems. Join today by visiting the Collective’s website and register as a gleaner to help Vermont maximize its collective impact.