Week of Gleaning
This September, Vermonters across the state are coming together to celebrate gleaning.
During the Vermont Week of Gleaning, farms, volunteers, community organizations, and food access partners will join together to harvest surplus food and connect it with people and communities who can use it.
Gleaning is a simple idea with a powerful impact: when good food is leftover in the field or garden, we can harvest it, share it, and make sure it nourishes our communities.
How to Sign up to Volunteer to Glean!
Each organization in the Vermont Gleaning Collective has its own process for signing up to volunteer. Some organizations use the Vermont Gleaning Collective Website and some use their own organization’s websites.
Please refer to the list below. Signing up is required for gleaning as the volunteer coordinators need to know how to expect and may have specific instructions from the farmer about how to best arrive on site.
What is gleaning?
Gleaning is the practice of harvesting food that might otherwise go unharvested or to waste.
A farmer may have more produce than they can sell. A field may still be full after a harvest. A garden may produce more than one household can use.
Gleaning brings people together to recover that food and get it where it is needed.
Across Vermont, gleaning connects farms, volunteers, food shelves, meal programs, community organizations, and neighbors in a shared effort to build a more resilient and equitable food system.
Gleaning is climate action, too.
When food goes to waste, so do the land, water, energy, labor, and other resources that went into producing it. And when food waste breaks down in landfills, it generates methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. By recovering surplus food and getting it to people instead, gleaning helps reduce food waste and the emissions associated with it.
Gleaning also helps build climate resilience at the community level. As unpredictable weather and changing markets create more surplus and uncertainty for farms, gleaning provides a way to respond collectively, connecting available food with people who need it and keeping valuable resources in circulation.
Celebrate gleaning across Vermont
From September 21-25 will be a celebration of gleaning happening in communities across the state.
Member organizations of the Vermont Gleaning Collective will be hosting gleaning opportunities, providing education on the impact of gleaning, and other activities throughout the week.
Whether you're an experienced gleaner or have never picked a surplus crop before, there's a place for you to be involved in the Week of Gleaning.
Get Involved
Join a glean: Get your hands in the harvest and help rescue fresh, local food.
Share the work: Invite a friend, family member, neighbor, or community group to participate.
Spread the word: Share the Week of Gleaning with your community and help more Vermonters discover gleaning.
Gleaning is a team effort.
A successful glean doesn't happen because of one person or one organization.
It takes a farmer who says, “Come harvest this.”
It takes volunteers who say, “We'll help.”
It takes organizations and food access partners who say, “We'll get this food where it needs to go.”
And it takes communities that believe good food should nourish people, not go to waste.
That's the spirit of Vermont Week of Gleaning.
One week. One state. One food system. Many hands.
Find a Week of Gleaning event
Events and gleaning opportunities will be happening across Vermont throughout the week.
- Calendar will launch on August 31
Check back as more opportunities are added.
About the Vermont Gleaning Collective
The Vermont Gleaning Collective brings together organizations working across Vermont to strengthen gleaning and connect the people, farms, and communities that make food recovery possible.
Together, we are working toward a Vermont food system where surplus food is valued, recovered, and shared—and where more people have access to fresh, local food.
Join Us
There are many ways to be part of Vermont Week of Gleaning. Volunteer your time and join a glean, donate to support gleaning work, connect your organization, or offer surplus produce from your farm.
Whatever your connection to Vermont’s food system, there’s a place for you in this statewide celebration.
Join us September 21–25 for Vermont Week of Gleaning.