The Gleaning Project was initiated in 2013 as one of six regional gleaning projects across the state of NH, initiated with funding from the You Have Our Trust Fund.
Over the years, over twenty commercial farms in the county have donated produce either after it has been harvested or directly from the field, greenhouse, or orchard, where crews of volunteers gather to harvest crops that range from baby salad greens to sweet corn to apples. Gleaners also collect products at the end of farmer’s market days, while home gardeners and community gardeners donate their garden extras or their crops that were grown specifically to feed their neighbors in need. In all, the community has donated over 250,000 pounds of fresh local produce to support Cheshire County residents facing food insecurity in the course of eight seasons.

A year into the Covid 19 pandemic, there have been a number of impacts on the global food system that have reverberated across New Hampshire. Food insecurity has doubled over 2019 rates to impact 1 in 7 residents in the state. Meanwhile, the price of groceries in the US has risen 3.5% over the same year as food supplies have been tight. At The Community Kitchen, traditional sources of food donations were also more limited after the pandemic hit, while local farms saw a welcome increase in demand for their products and were therefore left with less product available for gleaning.

As we approach the 2021 season, we have a year of experience with implementing Covid-safe opportunities for our gleaning volunteers and we expect the need for gleaning to return to traditional levels as local producers adjust to higher demands. If patterns of food insecurity reflect those from prior economic upheavals, we can also expect the need to remain high through 2021 and probably the following few years.