Sunday, September 30, 2012 from 2 – 4p.m. at County Line Harvest
Join us for National Gleaning Day on Sunday, September 30th at County Line Harvest!

Now Become a Partner in 2012: NationalGleaningDay.org

Founded by Marin Organic, the first annual National Gleaning Day on September 20, 2010 united communities, farms and schools across the nation for a day of harvesting healthy food for kids! As part of Project Lunch Week: MARIN, the Marin Organic Glean Team and nearly 100 students and parents from eight schools harvested extra tomatoes, lettuces, melons, peppers, cucumbers and chard from four Marin Organic member farms. Thanks to their hard work, more than 500 lbs. of healthy, local produce was donated to schools throughout Marin County!

Across the country, other communities mobilized to join National Gleaning Day, uniting in this growing movement for food justice and holistic resource management. From Michigan to Oregon, Kentucky to Virginia, countless volunteers from 7 states spearheaded gleaning initiatives for schools, food pantries and senior centers everywhere, nourishing the lives of thousands.

Marin Organic celebrates a harvest at Star Route Farms, courtesy of Paige Green.

Our lil’ Glean Team happily harvests from Green Gulch Farm too.

Our special thanks to Whole Foods Market for generously donating two charter buses to the Marin Organic on National Gleaning Day, enabling so many school children to glean after school!

We heartily salute the following National Gleaning Day partners:

Backyard Bounty in CA, a program of the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County, has harvested over 330,000 lbs to date of under-utilized produce growing throughout the community for distribution to residents in need.

Windfall Farm in Petaluma, CA, gleaned apples, tomatoes, lettuces and figs on National Gleaning Day for distribution by Elim Lutheran Church in Petaluma.

Tierra Miguel Foundation's biodynamic farm in Puma Valley, CA gleaned tomatoes for donation to Oak Hill Residential Care Facility.

Faith Feeds in Lexington, KY gleaned 225 pounds of local apples for Kid's Café school lunches and 318 pounds of farmers' market produce for donation to La Roca Church to feed lunch to nearly 100 people in need. Faith Feeds gleaned 20,000 pounds of fresh local foods in the summer of 2010 alone!

Benzie County Schools in Bensonia, MI gleaned apples from local ranches for their own school district food services, while also getting students and teachers really excited about National Gleaning Day 2011 with farm field trips, diversity taste tests, and farmer profiles in the cafeteria.

Urban Gleaners in Portland OR gleaned three times for National Gleaning Day from farmers' markets for delivery to local schools.

Society of Saint Andrew, based in VA and with gleaners across the US, gleaned from several farms and markets to then deliver to regional schools and food pantries.

Valley Stewardship Network's Kickapoo Harvest in WI gleaned extra cherry tomatoes for their local school district lunches on National Gleaning Day, while gleaning organic produce from 1-2 farms each month for public schools, food pantries and residents of a senior housing facility.

Read more about National Gleaning Day in “Glean, Baby Glean!” by local Dirt Diva Annie Spiegelman.

National Gleaning Day 2012 is on Sunday, September 30th, 2012, and the week following.
Mark your calendars!

For more information about the Marin Organic School Lunch and Gleaning Program or the MO Glean Team, please contact Program Manager Scott Davidson at (415) 663.9667 or scott@marinorganic.org.

Glean (verb): to gather produce or grain left in the field by farmers
It’s no secret that school lunch programs everywhere need support to effectively nourish students with the best possible foods on very limited resources. Community gleaning initiatives across the country have become an integral part of the solution for school lunches, food pantries, and community centers. In Marin County, CA, every Monday afternoon, the Marin Organic Glean Team harvests extra foods from the fields of Marin Organic member farms for the Organic School Lunch and Gleaning Program, enabling kids throughout the county to eat local organic foods at school. By supplementing weekly orders with gleaned products, this program enables 10,000 students to choose nutritious, local food options, every week, while the schools stay within their tight budgets.

To register as a National Gleaning Partner for 2012, please tell us who you are, where you're from, what you're gleaning, from which farm, and for whom.

Your Gleaning Story: (150 characters)
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