Gleaning up after Thanksgiving (GlassHospital)

By Dr. John Schumann

With the holiday season upon us, our thoughts often turn to those in need — of food, clothing and shelter.

I recently attended the Oklahoma Food Security Summit and was struck by a presentation about the practice known as gleaning, a term I’d never heard before.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture defines gleaning “as the act of collecting excess fresh foods from farms, gardens, farmers’ markets, grocers, restaurants….or any other sources, in order to provide it to those in need.”

In other words, getting food that would otherwise go to waste to those in need. This is how many food banks originated.

I interviewed Katie Plohocky, co-founder and director of Tulsa’s Healthy Community Store Initiative about one of its programs called “Hands 2 Harvest,” which is a gleaning effort for much of Tulsa.

In a nutshell Plohocky gathers volunteers to go to local farms and harvest crops that would otherwise be left to rot or plowed under because of minor blemishes or lack of farm labor. She then either sells this produce in her mobile grocery or distributes it to the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma or other local food pantries.

One of the things Katie and I discussed was how food distribution often is misaligned between food available and folks’ needs. Seems like there should be an app for that…

Also because of the season, the ever-reliable Oklahoma Policy Institute posted this video debunking myths about food insecurity. Great minds, as they say…

https://glasshospital.com/2016/11/27/gleaning-up-after-thanksgiving/