Master Gardener volunteers reduce food insecurity by gleaning

The Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Hanover County are on a mission to support food security while reducing food waste on local farms.

Through a gleaning program started in 2021, the group has harvested over 37,900 pounds of fresh produce and volunteered more than 1,250 hours to support farms and food pantries in the region.

Gleaning is the practice of collecting excess produce to provide to those in need. Extension Master Gardeners are trained volunteer educators and are an educational outreach component of Virginia Cooperative Extension. The Master Gardener Volunteer program brings the resources of Virginia’s land-grant universities – Virginia Tech and Virginia State University – to serve the people of the commonwealth.

The program started in 2021, after an Extension community assessment showed the need to address food insecurity and strengthen local food systems. Sara Hallam ‘21, a summer intern with Extension and Laura Maxey-Nay, then a Hanover County Extension agent, approached the Hanover Extension Master Gardener Volunteers about beginning a gleaning program.

“It’s not just gleaning,” said Hanover Extension Agent Scot Ferguson. “It’s much more than just picking the fruit and giving it away. It’s really about strengthening the resiliency of our food system, creating access, developing educational components, and building relationships in our community to create a fundamental program.”

Susan Warren, one of the Master Gardener gleaners, said, “Farmers plant more than what they can harvest. There’s no sense in all that food going to waste. I think this is the best thing we’ve done" as Master Gardeners.

Between 30 and 40 percent of the food supply in the United States is wasted, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“Having been in agricultural production too, it’s kind of a problem to have to compost literally tons of food waste, especially when it carries seeds and could harbor disease,” Ferguson said.

Master Gardener Karen Shockley said the work has been fulfilling and productive.

“There are so many opportunities within the Master Gardener Volunteer program,” Shockley said. “Gleaning has been such an eye-opening and rewarding experience. I love my community, and to witness such food insecurity I knew I wanted to help the community flourish and increase their well-being. Gleaning has allowed me to do that. The instruction I’ve had through Extension is all about taking care of community, talking to them, and dispensing food to the food banks. I’ve been overwhelmed with the opportunity I’ve been given and I’m so appreciative.”

To participate in gleaning, volunteers must review a 40-minute field food safety training video annually provided by Stuart Vermaak, the Loudoun County Food Safety Extension agent, prior to the start of each season.

“Even though we’ve been doing it for a few years, we rewatch the training video and read through the food safety materials to remind ourselves of good practices and sanitation,” said Pattie Bland, the Master Gardener who leads the gleaning activity.

“Training is required for cleanliness and to reduce the spread of bacteria,” said Master Gardener Ginny Nicholas.

Gleaning in action

Bland helps coordinate the Hanover Master Gardeners gleaning activity with another Master Gardener, Corinna Muldowney, matching farms with produce to spare with volunteers who are ready to pick. She also regularly checks in with regional food pantries to find out what items are needed.

“We really only have a two-hour picking window during the height of summer,” she said. “The pantries let me know if they have a need for 100 watermelons or only 10, based on past distribution. Fresh food is perishable, so we get the produce from the field and to the pantries within one hour.”

Drought conditions in 2024 have meant a lot less opportunity to glean, Bland said. Only two farmers participated in the program this year. Hanover Master Gardeners hope to build additional partnerships with farms and food pantries in the coming years to maintain the program.

Anne Geyer, founder of Agriberry Farm, partnered with the Hanover County Extension in the early 2010s to share surplus fruit with the community through gleaning. Today, Agriberry is working consistently and intentionally with the Hanover Master Gardeners and the gleaning program.

“As a farm we have a responsibility to address berry abundance," said Juniper Runion, Agriberry’s membership and engagement coordinator. "There are times of the year where we have such a windfall of berries that are ready to be picked, and we just don’t have the capacity to pick them all. So we contact the Hanover Master Gardeners gleaners for community donation. They are first-quality berries, and we offer them the packaging materials and set them up to harvest. Most of the gleaners have been here before, but we offer them training before setting them up for harvesting.”

In 2024, Hanover Master Gardeners gleaned and donated over 500 servings of local fruit from Agriberry Farm to area food pantries.

“Very few food banks get this fresh and nutritionally dense produce," Runion said. "Food banks might get berries from grocery stores but because these are grown locally, picked at peak ripeness, they are one of the most nutrient-dense berries you will find locally. Gleaners are providing extremely high-quality nutrition for our local food banks and Agriberry is reducing their food waste.” 

During the height of summer, the Master Gardener gleaners deliver produce two to three times a week to Moments of Hope Pantry in Hanover.

Betty Hayes, director of pantry operations, said the produce she gets from grocery stores is not nearly enough for her growing clientele of 300 families. She says the gleaners can provide a much greater quantity of specific produce, so all families have an opportunity to partake. 

“Once a month, we offer a cooking demo showcasing food that historically people have not taken because they’re unsure of how to prepare it,” said Hayes. “When we had a bounty of winter squash, we prepared a simple casserole in a crockpot so our clients could try it. If they enjoyed it, they could take the ingredients needed that day and try making it at home themselves. Another week, the gleaners brought us some beautiful corn, so we did a demo of Mexican street corn, and our clients loved it.”

Hayes lets clients know when the produce is brought in by the gleaners. It provides her clients with extremely fresh produce, and it allows everyone to enjoy fresh produce.

“Every time the Master Gardener gleaners drop off, I can see they are just bubbling with joy providing for their community,” Hayes said.

If you'd like to donate, volunteer, or learn more about Virginia Cooperative Extension Master Gardener's programming in Hanover County, visit hanovermastergardeners.org. Check out Hanover county’s food pantry calendar here. Learn more about On the Farm Food Safety through VCE Publications.