For 2010, I’m trying to be even more frugal. As I mentioned before, there’s just $7,000 left of debt to bust and I’m looking for a way to get there even sooner. Groceries consume about $500 in our budget each month for our family of four, so that’s certainly a candidate for “tweaking.” Sure, we could give up the few organics that we buy, or we could eliminate meat and eggs, but my low-carb diet would make that really hard. So I’ve decided to start gleaning.
What is Gleaning, exactly?
Perhaps you are wondering what gleaning is. Gleaning is a the process of salvaging food that stores can no longer sell, or crops that are left behind after a harvest. It’s such an old practice that it is even discussed in the Bible.
This week, I joined a co op gleaning group. It’s a non-profit and I pay an annual membership of $30 to support the groups’ activities. There are about 30 members and they take turns with their responsibilities. This way I’ll only be going to stores to pick up items two to three times per month, however, other members get the other days. This way, each store is gleaned each day and doesn’t have to hold spoiling merchandise. We’ll all be getting it fresh enough to freeze or preserve. Once a week, I’ll pick up my “share” of the gleans from a central location. All told, it’s a time commitment, of 3-5 hours per week.
We’re encouraged to share our surplus with others in the community—I have several elderly fixed-income neighbors and will share with others in my church if there is anyone in need.
Where do you glean?
My group will glean a major warehouse store, a natural foods market, two supermarkets and two bakeries. Additionally, I’ve signed up for crop gleans and salmon gleans (when the Department of Fish and Wildlife has collected the roe that they need from salmon for hatcheries they need somewhere to send the dead fish and our gleaning group is a recipient).
Since I can, juice and freeze, the erratic nature of the gleans will work for me—if one day yields 7 lbs of aged grapes, I can figure out what to do with that pretty quickly. This summer I bulk-purchased tomatoes and peaches and canned those. Gleaned tomatoes may be too blemished to can, but could be turned in to spaghetti sauce and canned. While many would consider a crate of zuchinni a blight, I can think of what to do with it in no time. (One thing about gleaning is that you can’t pick-and-choose—you have to take the entire glean).
Tonight after my orientation, I followed my new friend to the house that hosted the day’s bread glean. She didn’t want all of her share of bread, so invited me to pick up whatever I’d like. It was a great surprise to come home with several loaves of artisan bread from a bakery and a big bag of bagels. (I’m so regretting my low-carb diet right now).
I go to train in stores Monday and Tuesday and should be able to post on gleaning progress before long.
Find a gleaning club
If you have volunteer time and a car (the bigger the better) and would like to join a gleaning club, they can be hard to find. Good places to start looking are local community message boards, food co-ops, churches, cooperative extensions through local universities (usually Agriculture universities) and food banks. Some food banks allow gleaners who volunteer on behalf of the food bank to share in the glean as well in exchange for their time.
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I’m jealous. I would love to do this, but I’m having a really hard time finding a group to join. I’ll keep looking though, because I know they are out there!
I can honestly say I have never heard of doing this in present day times. I remember reading about it in Ruth, but had no idea the practice still existed today. I am going to check online and see if I can find a group to do this with. What a great way to eat healthy and save!
This is the second post I have read on a budgeting blog about Gleaning. It is definetly interesting to me, but as a single person I wonder if it would be worth it. I also live in a smaller condo that does not have a lot of storage space. I am going to check into it though.
Great post! I know there is a group who does this in my area, but I don’t know the particulars. What a great blessing to your family and those you can share with.
I just did a quick post on ways to save with groceries by buying in bulk. For example, value packs of ground beef etc that you split and freeze etc.
This process of gleaning is great, however, it’s hard to find. Local grocery stores where I’m at won’t sell (or give away) old bread/produce etc due to the fact they don’t want to get sued if someoe gets sick (even though it’s very unlikely…they won’t even donate items to food banks). Although, you can usually negotiate with the bakery manager/produce managers to get reduced or free….they’ll do it ad hoc.
I will check to see if the farmers markets have anything like this.
great post.
In our group, we have a 501(c)3 organization which has a waiver with the stores, so they get a tax deduction for their donations to us, and some insulation from liability (also, the biggest worry I think is people in the stores).
I too am a condo-dweller, but we have a 2nd freezer in our garage. I’ve always been a gleaner but never in a formal way before. I also can and freeze and process otherwise. So, for instance, I had a bunch of sort of icky tomatoes (cosmetic only) which will go into the croc-pot for spaghetti sauce which I’ll then can.
Also, I’ve developed a relationship with our church–they know of someone who needs some groceries, so each week I pack up items that are in good shape (cosmetic blemishes only) and drop that off at the church to be delivered. This will ensure we don’t have an overabundance.
Paris Girl, I don’t know of a clearinghouse for gleaning groups, but usually the local agricultural co-op will know about them (whomever hosts the Master Gardener and 4-H programs in your area). They will often seek out gleaning groups to clear “experimental crops” etc. A while back there were gleans in my area for Universities that were testing soils for corn and strawberries. They asked the gleaners to come clean up the crops to prevent seed-contamination of their soils, so the deal is you can take all the food, but you have to take it ALL even if it’s a little funky (moldy, spoiled or immature). You also have to harvest it all. The Department of Fish and Wildlife may also know–I know my gleaning co-op gets called on salmon gleans.
Alternatively, many churches and food banks need gleaners as volunteers–and you can take things that they don’t need. A friend of mine does this for a church and is often sent home with prepared salads and items needing freezer space because the food bank is limited on space or because clients don’t have a use/desire for items (she one gave me a pile of gourmet cheeses for my freezer because she was running short of room and the food bank clients don’t take them–they need the room in the refrigerators for eggs and milk).
Interesting that you describe the process as “gleaning.” Truthfully, I never knew what the process was but certainly participated in it. Born in a small town, we were able to pick up the excess sweet potatoes and peanuts left behind after the crops were harvested. Even more recently, a store relocated to my town that offers products that the stores are no longer able to use and it is resold for a dollar or two. I get tremendous savings on my cat litter and cat food, both brand name items simply because the packages are slightly damaged. The savings have been much appreciated since I have four cats. I am going to explore options for establishing a gleaning club in my community, in addition to growing my own garden this spring. I am really excited about both options.
Churches are great. Don’t forget Buddhist Temples, Synagogues, and other organizations too.
I find that ethnic places are cheap too.