Have you ever watched that fruit
tree on your street ripen, and noticed that most of the perfectly tasty apples
ended up falling and rotting on the ground? If you hate to see good food go to
waste, you’ll be relieved to hear that The Pierce County Gleaning Project is
actively working towards a solution. We live in a time when thousands in our
community struggle to put food on the table. Diet-related diseases in
low-income populations are on the rise due to reduced access to healthy foods
like fresh produce. And yet so much food just goes to waste. Gleaning is a
great way to reduce food waste and relieve hunger at the same time.
The Pierce County Gleaning Project (PCGP), a collaborative
effort of the Emergency Food Network, St. Leo’s Food Connection, and Rotary
First Harvest, runs an urban fruit harvest in Tacoma, gleans from farms and
farmers markets in the Puyallup Valley, and connects gardeners with food banks
through a Plant a Row for the Hungry/Share the Harvest Program. Last year PCGP gleaned
(harvested food that would otherwise go to waste) over 30,000 lbs of produce
and expects to increase that this year.
Did your tomato plants produce far
more than you expected this year? Do you have extra fruit on your fruit tree
that you would like to see go to good use? Would you like to grow an extra row
of carrots for the food bank? You can help PCGP to reduce both food waste and
hunger in Pierce County.
Here’s how you can help:
Volunteer: Help
pick tree fruit with your neighborhood fruit harvest group, join in on the Friday
morning farm gleans, or plant an extra row for your local food bank.
2) Attend a training to help with Tacoma
fruit harvest or to learn how to set up a harvest in your own community (e.g., Gig Harbor).
Training sessions will be offered:
Wednesday, July 11, 6:30-7:30 p.m.
Wheelock Library, 2722 North 26th Street
Saturday, July 21, 10:30-11:30 a.m.
Moore Library, 215 South 56th Street