Pierce County Gleaning Project    

In the gleaning project's second year, volunteers have already harvested the following for local food banks and hot meal sites:

• over 8,400 lbs of neighborhood tree fruit
• over 6,177 lbs of produce from farmers markets
• over 15,208 lbs of produce from farms

The Pierce County Gleaning Project is a new organization in the south sound whose goals are to provide more fresh food in county food banks, to reduce the amount of produce wasted in our community, and to build community.  This community-based effort is a response to the dramatic increase in the number of people seeking food assistance in our county.  We carry out these goals through the following projects:

Community Fruit Tree Harvests

So often fruit trees on private properties ripen, fall off, and rot before the owner can do anything with them.  This is a waste of food, creates a mess for the owner, and helps spread fruit tree diseases. Rather than let all of this local and edible produce go to waste, at the request of the owner, we organize groups of neighborhood volunteers to pick the fruit and deliver it to a local food bank. 

Farm Gleaning

Gleaning is the ancient practice of gathering leftover produce after a harvest.  We are making relationships with local farmers so that we can organize groups of volunteers to glean from their fields after harvests. Produce that is gleaned is then distributed out to county food banks. We are also gleaning leftover food from produce vendors at Pierce County Farmers Markets.

Plant an Extra Row

We are encouraging local gardeners and community gardens to plant an extra row of produce for their local food bank.  We have seeds and information available to home gardeners interested in planting an extra row.  Imagine how much more fresh food would be available to low income families if every backyard garden grew 50 extra pounds of produce a year for their local food bank!

Community Outreach

Not only do we organize gleaning parties for fruit trees and farms, but we host many community outreach events throughout the year to spread the word about our project, including everything from fruit tree pruning demos for folks with fruit trees that we glean to cooking demos.

Who We Are

We are a collaborative effort among the Emergency Food Network food bank distributor, the St. Leo Food Connection food banks and the statewide Harvest Against Hunger gleaning program run by Seattle's Rotary First Harvest.

• The St. Leo Food Connection started in 1982 to address the growing need in the Hilltop neighborhood and is the county's largest food bank and more! Charlie Vogelheim is the resident Jesuit Volunteer coordinating the project, and saw the gleaning project through its very first harvest in 2010.
• The Emergency Food Network was started in 1982 by Tacoma aid organizations to address the community needs during the recession, but the need never went away. EFN distributes to 67 local food banks and hot meal sites, and got on board with gleaning by hiring AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteer Ellen Mickle to help coordinate the project in 2010.
• The Harvest Against Hunger Project was launched in 2009 by Rotary First Harvest to increase connections between small or medium-sized farms and their local food banks, at ten sites throughout Washington. Rotary First Harvest is a project of Rotary District 5030 and has helped connect farmers and food programs in the Seattle area since its beginning in 1982.

For more information, contact

Emily Boston                                                   AmeriCorps*VISTA                                                            Gleaning Coordinator                                                 Emergency Food Network                                             Lakewood, WA                                                    253-584-1040                                                emily@efoodnet.org

Hunger Facts

• Every month 147,000 individuals seek food assistance in Pierce County - that's enough to fill the seats at Stadium High School's football field over 11 times. Over half of individuals seeking food assistance are children or seniors. 

• Hunger in Washington rose 36% from 2008 - 2009.

• In America, 19.5% of individuals are hungry or food insecure.

Thank you to our 2011 Partners:

• Mother Earth Farm, Puyallup

• Little Eorthe Farm, Orting

• Zestful Gardens, Tacoma

• Terry's Berries, Tacoma

• Duris Cucumber Farm, Tacoma

• Pierce County Solid Waste  

• Tacoma-Pierce County Community Gardens  

• Tacoma Farmers Market 

• Pierce County Master Gardener Program 
  

• Territorial Co., Ed Hume, Seed Savers Exchange, & America the Beautiful Fund (for seed donations)
  

• Bellarmine prep, Mt. Tahoma Farm, Mt. Tahoma High School, L'Arche Farm, & Peace of the Earth farm (for raising plant starts)

• King's Books  

• Pierce County Libraries & Tacoma Public Library  

• Pierce College

• University of Puget Sound

• Isaac Lewin (for making t-shirts!)