Gleaning
Salvation Farms' Gleaning program engages and helps feed Vermont's Lamoille Valley & Northeast Kingdom by collecting and distributing what farmers can't sell. Salvation Farms — as an organization — started by creating this community-based gleaning model, which has been replicated by or been the inspiration for other communities in Vermont and beyond.
Gleaning is the harvesting or collecting surplus food from farms. It is an ancient practice that Salvation Farms is honored to help carry into the modern age. In ancient times the corners of the fields were left unharvested so that neighbors could come and gather food for survival. Our Glean Team does the work of coordinating glean events with volunteers to harvest, sort, and deliver surplus food from farms in Caledonia, Essex, Lamoille, Orleans, and northern Washington County so that our neighbors can access fresh, nutritious food.
In 2025, we accomplished the following
- 35 partner farms
- 73,000 lbs of local food distributed
- 100 volunteers contributing 300+ service hours
- 65 food distribution sites and community partners
Our community partners include senior meal sites, afterschool programs, head start programs, food shelves, soup kitchens, recovery centers, and WIC (Women Infants Children) offices across our region. We have seen success in free CSA style distributions to partners like WIC offices in Newport, St Johnsbury, and Morrisville. Customized deliveries to partners like Meals on Wheels in St Johnsbury and Morrisville, as well as food shelves and soup kitchens have also been a great point of pride for our team.
We have worked hard for more than twenty years to keep this program adaptive to community needs. As part of these efforts we have always worked to build stronger relationships between local farmers and the communities they feed. Our Glean Team is proud of the work we do to support community building efforts like increased food security in the most remote parts of our state, and reducing the effects of climate change by reducing on-farm food loss.
Our work is made possible by the dedicated support of our farm partners and volunteers. We could not do this work without the support of the communities we work with. Interested in volunteerin on a glean? Just click the link below!