Harvesting the extras

Ancient practice gets new life in Del Norte County

Marci Olson and her son, Alex Olson, glean apples at a local residence Oct. 9 as part of a 4-H effort to help feed the needy. Submitted

Since the summer, 4,524 pounds of food have been collected and distributed through CAN’s food bank for the Del Norte Community Gleaning Project.

Food that doesn’t sell at the farmers market or is blemished, but still edible, is gleaned. People who receive a food box through CAN have been getting fresh, local produce with their non-perishable food items.

Gleaning is a practice going back to the Middle Ages and is even mentioned in the Bible, said Angela Glore, the director of food programs for CAN.

To glean means to gather useful food after the best crops have been harvested to sell.

“Feudal lords were required to let people go through their fields after the harvest to scavenge,” Glore said.

This was done so the poor could have access to food, she said.

Nowadays, in areas where there are a lot of farms, teams of people travel the countryside to glean crops that are distributed to food banks, Glore said.

While Del Norte doesn’t have a lot of farms with food crops, the farmers markets and locals’ backyards provide an opportunity to glean, said Connor Caldwell, a First 5 Service Corps VISTA who is a  development coordinator for CAN.

After the farmers markets on Saturdays, Caldwell and a team of 4-H students collect everything that any of the food producers would normally throw away.

Local residents have offered their excess food growing on trees or in the ground on their property also, Caldwell said.

Dalton Alexandre picks apples Oct. 9 at a local residence as part of the gleaning effort to make sure surplus food isn’t wasted. Submitted

The project started in June when the farmers markets began. Glore and Caldwell went to the 4-H Citizenship Club thatv’s composed of about 10 high school-aged kids who do a community service project to propose combining efforts to glean in Del Norte.

The teens presented their project before it began at a statewide 4-H meeting in Sacramento and won first place on their presentation, Caldwell said. They will go to another state convention to present the results of their project, he said, which will include a map of where in Del Norte they gathered food.

Food producers who have participated include Ocean Air, Mountain Home Farms and Home Plate Farms, both from Orleans; Salsa Suzy, the garden at Crescent Elk Middle School, and locals throughout the community.

By the end of October, 4,500 pounds of food had been gleaned.

“Measuring by that, it was successful,” Caldwell said. “Fresh, local food went to the people who needed it the most.”

 With more local residents participating and more volunteers, the Community Gleaning Project could grow next year, he said.

Volunteers take what people otherwise aren’t going to eat, he said. Or, those who have large gardens could plant extra food to be gleaned, Glore said.

Anyone interested in participating during the next growing season can call Caldwell at 464-9190, ext. 119, or email This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it