Gleaning, What an Interesting Concept!

Hunger, like poverty, will remain with us for eternity, or so it seems. Although it’s a new year, and all the trappings of the holidays are behind most folks, so is the thought of giving to a food pantry. Aren’t people only hungry at Thanksgiving and Christmas? If not, that means there is a crying need for the other 50 weeks.
Assembly Democrats keep my inbox overflowing on a daily basis, I term it “legislative overload.” Once in a while one of those bills captures my eye as did the one sent Dec. 30. It dealt with a three-fold packet of bills introduced by Assemblyman Robert Andrzejczak (D-1st) and cohort Tim Eustace. According to the release the bills are, “designed to combat hunger by making good use of the billions of dollars in food that goes to waste every year in the United States.”
They said a mouthful there, especially about food going to waste. Often when I attend a dinner meeting, I will look around the room and see what is being hauled to the dumpster. I think just how many people could live off the untouched portions that are destined for the garbage heap. It probably goes back to early childhood when we were chided, “Clean your plate or there’s no dessert.” To this day, I try not to take what I’m not going to eat.
To help combat harrowing statistics of “approximately 40 percent of the food supply in the U.S. goes uneaten due to losses at the farm, retail, and consumer levels,” the first measure (AJR-93) would designate the last full week of September as “New Jersey Gleaning Week.”
Gleaning? Is that a word in the dictionary? Why yes it is. Those who delve into the Bible are likely more familiar with the word than the average TV viewer.
From Leviticus 23:22: “When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field when you reap, nor shall you gather any gleaning from your harvest. You shall leave them for the poor and for the stranger: I am the Lord your God.”
There you have it: gleaning. It’s an idea hatched before public Bible reading was scorned. At this late date, if the bills pass our astute governing houses in Trenton, we may return to the idea of gleaning. Perhaps the time has come, since, according to their release, “In New Jersey, alone, 1.15 million people, including 375,000 children, are affected by food insecurity.
“We can significantly curb hunger in the U.S. if we simply make a concerted and compassionate commitment to increase the efficiency of our food system and not let anything go to waste. This requires a collaborative effort to increase awareness of gleaning so that we can give people the tools they need to make a real difference,” Eustace stated.
Gleaning is the process of collecting excess fresh foods from farms, gardens, farmers markets, grocers, restaurants, state and county fairs, or other sources in order to provide it to those in need.
“Gleaning prevents food waste, gives low-income populations access to fresh, healthy foods, provides valuable resources to nonprofit agencies, and builds good relations between community members and farmers,” stated Andrzejczak, who calls Cape May County home. “Given the abundance of wealth in this country, no American should ever have to go hungry, especially when we have so much excess food that goes to waste.”
The second measure (AJR-94) designates the Wednesday of “New Jersey Gleaning Week,” the last full week in September, as “Farmers Against Hunger Day” in order to recognize and promote the efforts of farmers, community organizations, businesses, and volunteers who donate and deliver fresh, healthy food to those in need.
The measure requires the governor to annually issue a proclamation calling upon public officials and residents to observe “Farmers Against Hunger Day” with appropriate activities and programs, and to coordinate their activities and programs with those annually planned for “New Jersey Gleaning Week.” The measure also directs the Department of Agriculture to take appropriate measures each year to publicize “Farmers Against Hunger Day.”
The last bill (A-4079) in the package directs the Department of Agriculture to publish on its website, on the same page, information promoting related events and activities that includes: a “Farmers Against Hunger Day” page; a “New Jersey Gleaning Week” page; and a link to the New Jersey Agricultural Society for farmers to access, and express their need for, volunteers for gleaning.
All three measures have been referred to the Assembly Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee.
We know waste happens daily as food markets must toss perfectly good food, because they cannot retain it. Bread vendors remove perfectly good loaves from the shelves, destined for a pig farm, because they are simply outdated, thanks to strange legislation that dictates when food must be removed from shelves. Often, that food is perfectly good and safe to eat, but must be trashed.
When we think of gleaning, it may be a good time to examine other aspects of what is wasted, and turn it around to feed those 1.15 million starving folks in the Garden State, along with the estimated 375,000 children.
It’s a sin to waste good food. What would your mother have said?