40% of what we discard in our landfills is organic waste including green waste from our gardens and wasted food and kitchen scraps. Food is wasted and discarded of in large quantities, and yet 1 in 3 people in San Diego County is nutrition insecure (1). Food insecurity in San Diego county has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic leading to 28% of San Diegan experiencing food insecurity were newly nutrition insecure and 72% were already facing challenges prior to the pandemic (1).
Many people are unfamiliar with gleaning, but it has actually existed as a form of community aide for more than 2,000 years. Gleaning is defined gathering leftover grain or produce after a harvest. Since the 18th century, gleaning was an essential part of food security for community members in need. In the present day, it is now used as a food waste recovery practice in order to prevent crops and produce from rotting in fields or going to waste.
Whether it is donating your excess produce for picking or volunteering as a gleaner, there are many gleaning organizations that you can join in San Diego in order to contribute towards food sustainability and increased food security. See below for a list of gleaning organizations, you can also find more information on WasteFreeSD.org!
Backyard Produce Project
Whether it is donating your excess produce for picking or volunteering as a gleaner, there are many gleaning organizations that you can join in San Diego in order to contribute towards food sustainability and increased food security. See below for a list of gleaning organizations, you can also find more information on WasteFreeSD.org!
Harvest San Diego
A local food program that connects fruit tree owners in central San Diego with volunteer gleaners and donate the produce to those in need.
Produce Good
Produce Good is a non-profit organization that was created to finding sustainable solutions to alleviate hunger and repurpose waste. Its flagship program is CropSwap, where i t provides different types of backyard and small farm harvesting activities for people to participate in. Examples include Big Picks, Quick Picks, First Pick and Bumper Crop Small Farm Harvesting.
Senior Gleaners
Senior gleaners are volunteers above the age of 55 who harvest excess food from fields, backyards and stores. They then donate the food to local agencies that feed the hungry and poor
if you see a need in your neighborhood and want to take action or want to learn more about gleaning check out the USDA’s toolkit to help.