Middlebury alum leads gleaning initiative

Ten minutes is nothing. A 10-minute nap is never satisfying, 10 minutes of running is considered a warm-up, and 10 minutes in bed is, well, not exactly impressive by any means.

But 10 minutes is more than nothing to a farmer. To Sunrise Orchards in Cornwall, for instance, 10 minutes of hail early in the growing season cost the orchard approximately $1 million in apples this year, about one fourth of the farm’s profit.

Perhaps the worst part about this is that the apples taste great. Yet they have slight blemishes or pockmarks that make them unsuitable for wholesale, and are essentially left to fall off of the trees and rot. That’s where gleaning comes in.

Gleaning is the practice of gathering leftover produce or fruit after a crop has been harvested. Gleaners collect the food that farmers cannot sell, either because the produce is not the ideal size, is cosmetically flawed or is simply excess.

Middlebury alum and Compton Fellow Corinne Almquist ’09 works with Theresa Snow, program director of agricultural resources at the Vermont Food Bank, to organize gleanings and deliver produce to Vermont Food Shelves and other community centers throughout the northwestern Vermont area. And with almost 10 percent of the Vermont population categorized as “food insecure,” gleaning is becoming an important resource for the food bank.

But these leftovers are not like cold pizza or take-out boxes of lo mein. They are perfect potatoes, fresh green beans or, as I found out while gleaning at Sunrise Orchards, ripe apples perfectly chilled by the crisp Vermont autumn. For many, this is a refreshing change from the processed food traditionally distributed by food banks.

“I’m really drawn toward gleaning because it serves people who usually don’t get the chance to participate in the growing local foods movement, but who absolutely have the right to enjoy fresh, healthy produce,” Almquist explained.

Eric Elderbrock ’10 agrees. The Sunrise Orchard glean was his first, but he immediately felt the benefits.

“Who wouldn’t enjoy hanging out in the sun, picking apples or carrots, knowing that the healthy food they’re picking is going to make the day of someone a little less fortunate?” Elderbrock said.

Almquist began this venture with help from the Compton Mentor Fellowship Program, which provided her with a one-year grant to pursue “something [I’m] totally passionate about,” she said. She originally heard about the program from Emily Adler ’08, the first Middlebury student to receive the fellowship. At the same time, she began to develop an interest in gleaning through the Middlebury College Organic Garden and Professor John Elder’s Fast Food/Slow Food class.

“The more I thought about it, the more I realized it would be a perfect project for the fellowship,” Almquist said.

She originally considered trying the project in California, but coming from Middlebury, Vermont resonated with her. Now she has fostered ties with supportive farmers dedicated to sustainable food systems, and with the abundance of smaller diversified farms in the area, the gleaning process has been easy.

“I would imagine that it would be much harder to glean in an area that is dominated by industrial agriculture,” she said, “I am so happy I stayed in Vermont.”

Her involvement in the fellowship, after all, has revolved around the goal of using sustainable agriculture to ameliorate our country’s environmental footprint.

“[Gleaning’s] really a simple concept that has been around for thousands of years, yet if implemented on a wide scale it could play a crucial role in reducing our nation’s carbon emissions, strengthening local food networks, and sparking the transition away from industrial agriculture,” Almquist said.

Volunteers have also been a crucial part of the program’s success. Gleaning attracts people of all ages, “from elementary school kids to folks in their 80s,” as Almquist said.

The latest gleaning at Sunrise Orchards, for example, attracted a range of personalities. Will Van Heuvelen ’09.5 and Marcella Houghton ’12 unloaded the back of a minivan packed with empty crates, soon to be filled by volunteers like Almquist’s mother, Muriel, and Middlebury residents Carol and Reg Spooner. Carol is a 1950 Middlebury College graduate, and Reg is a lifetime resident of Middlebury. The two met Almquist through the interfaith environmental group Spirit in Nature, and their involvement with the College remains active through the Friends of International Students Host Program and through auditing various classes at the College.

“We’ve been volunteering with HOPE for years and we’ve known Corinne for a long time. Gleaning was just a gimme,” Spooner said.

Almquist recognizes the importance of volunteers in this program, and she is trying to ensure that gleaning in Vermont continues to prosper after her fellowship has ended. She is working to create AmeriCorps positions focused on gleaning, and HOPE (Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects) is considering hiring an intern to continue gleaning.

“Now that there’s an expectation of fresh produce from the food shelves, it needs to happen!” said Almquist.

With enthusiastic volunteers, the future is looking bright.

“Given how much fun [gleaning] is, it should sell itself,” said Elderbrock.

Elderbrock acknowledges, however, that with the commitments and pressure placed on Middlebury students, free time can seem like a luxury. But gleaning is time well spent, “spending a couple of hours on a beautiful Vermont farm with friends,” noted Elderbrock.

After all, 10 minutes of hail may have damaged the apples at Sunrise Orchards, but last week, a single hour of gleaning there produced 1,200 pounds of fruit, all of which will be distributed to people who really need it.