Progress report for EDS22-37
Project Information
There were approximately 13.7 million households in the United States in 2019 which experienced food insecurity, meaning they did not have the adequate resources to have food to meet their needs. There are also an estimated 40% of foods in the United States which go to waste. One way in which these challenges intersect is the quantity of quality produce that remains unharvested on farms or unsold within markets, which could be otherwise distributed to people experiencing hunger as a result of food insecurity. Gleaning is the process of volunteers harvesting or otherwise recovering quality produce from farms and markets to redistribute through regional and local hunger relief programs. Participating in gleaning can support long-term sustainability goals of agricultural productivity, environmental stewardship, financial profitability, farmer/grower quality of life, and societal goals of addressing hunger associated with food insecurity. Farmers are documented to have liability and logistical concerns which are barriers to them participating in gleaning programs. Through a three-tiered project, we propose to increase awareness of gleaning as a practice, promote relationships between gleaners, farmers/growers, and farmers market managers, and identify how to mitigate produce safety risks associated with gleaning. We will utilize the pre-existing Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) Enhancing the Safety of Locally Grown Produce (ESLGP) program, designed to meet required produce safety education requirements for small-scale farmers/growers with a companion program for farmers market managers and instructional video for farmworkers, to develop customized educational materials specific to gleaning. Farmers/growers will receive information related to the benefits of gleaning, risks associated with gleaning and how to mitigate them, and how to develop a relationship with local gleaners. Farmers market managers will receive information related to the benefits of gleaning, risks associated with gleaning and how to mitigate them, how to develop a relationship with local gleaners, and how to promote gleaning amongst their vendors. Gleaners will receive relevant produce safety information prior to their volunteer shift so they can arrive prepared to safely participate in the program. All program participants will be asked to complete an assessment to measure change in their knowledge of gleaning and gleaning safety, as well as an evaluation to determine their intent to participate in gleaning and implement the safety practices covered as part of the training. Data collected will be utilized to inform future program modifications. We believe that as a result of participating in the program, participants will have increased knowledge of gleaning, increased intent to participate in gleaning, and increased intent to implement relevant gleaning safety practices.
- Empower farmers/growers to establish relationships with gleaning programs
- Provide farmers market managers with information to promote gleaning/donation with their vendors
- Educate gleaning volunteers to implement safe produce handling practices
Educational & Outreach Activities
Participation Summary:
2022-2023
In this reporting period, the project team worked to:
- Compile currently available food safety resources for adaptation and/or adoption. This has included a review of the resources created and currently used by the Society of St. Andrew (which includes an informational email sent to volunteers), resources available through Virginia Tech (including a recorded presentation developed for individual workers on a farm setting), and resources available from other organizations (for example, a recorded presentation covering some food safety considerations for gleaned produce prepared by the University of Maryland).
- Create an outline for our gleaning volunteer-facing training, including identifying places where Society of St. Andrew already has multi-media and where we need to capture new multi-media for inclusion in the training
- Highlight gleaning as a practice to farmers, farmers market vendors, and farmers market managers through the Virginia Farmers Market Association’s 2023 Virtual Food Safety Summit
- Draft a Virginia Cooperative Extension factsheet addressing liability exemptions for food donors, with specific inclusion of gleaning-related liability exemptions
- Draft a survey that will be shared with farmers, farmers market vendors, farmers market managers, cooperative extension educators, and gleaners, to identify any topics for inclusion in the educational tools developed as a part of this project
In the upcoming reporting period, we plan to:
- Disseminate the survey to measure participant-identified topics to include in a food safety educational program related to gleaning
- Record the gleaner-specific training, to implement as part of the Society of St. Andrew’s gleaner-training process
- Develop and implement an evaluation for gleaners to complete after participating in our newly-designed program
- Create an outline for gleaning-specific presentations for delivery to farmers and farmers market managers; record the presentation; incorporate them into farmer and farmers market manager training programs currently offered by Virginia Cooperative Extension and evaluate response and impact
2023-2024
In this reporting period, the project team:
- Updated a survey to measure participant-identified topics to include in a food safety educational program related to gleaning, based on conversation with project collaborators and stakeholders
- Finalized the gleaner-specific training, to implement as part of the Society of St. Andrew’s gleaner-training process. Representatives from the Society of St. Andrew have been capturing photos and videos for our use in these trainings.
- Developed an evaluation for gleaners to complete after participating in our newly-designed program. Drafts have been created for the participants in our farmer and farmers market manager programs.
- Drafted gleaning-specific presentations for delivery to farmers and farmers market managers. record the presentation; incorporate them into farmer and farmers market manager training programs currently offered by Virginia Cooperative Extension and evaluate response and impact
In the upcoming reporting period, we plan to:
- Present at the 2024 Virginia Farmers Market Association’s Virtual Food Safety Summit to highlight gleaning as a practice to farmers, farmers market vendors, and farmers market managers
- Pilot, update, record, and publish the gleaner-specific training to implement as part of the Society of St. Andrews gleaner-training process. We plan to pilot with their state coordinators, due to their being on the front-lines with volunteers and the individuals most likely to field questions from individual gleaners, farmers, and market managers. We will evaluate the response and impact of these trainings.
- Record, pilot, and update the farmer and farmers market manager presentations. We incorporate them into farmer and farmers market manager training programs currently offered by Virginia Cooperative Extension and evaluate response and impact.