By Patty Hamm
Editor’s Note: When we learned of Kuna Good Neighbors, Inc. we asked Patty to tell us about the program.
Gleaning is mentioned as far back as the Old Testament, where it was suggested that the corners of the fields and some of the grapes should be left unharvested so the poor, strangers, and orphans might be able to come glean the leftovers. Again in the new testament, it is said, Whoever does not work, neither shall he eat.” By the 18th century gleaning was a legal right for cottagers in Sexton, England. A church bell would be rung at 8:00 am and again at 7:00 pm to tell gleaners to begin and end work.
In our modern age, the problem was that when people glean and distribute food, they may be bringing upon themselves liability risk if someone were to get sick from some of the food distributed. The Good Samaritan Act of 1996 limits the liability of donors as long as there is not gross negligence. This enabled restaurants, grocery stores and individuals to donate surplus foods to shelters, foodbanks and other feeding sites.
There are many dedicated gleaners that gather and distribute food weekly in our own Kuna area. One of those groups, Kuna Good Neighbors, Inc. has been in operation for almost 20 years. In previous years, this group could be found digging the potatoes out of the corners of the field that the harvester had missed. They would also be up ladders in an apple orchard, filling boxes in a grape vineyard, digging carrots in a greenhouse or filling trailers full of squash after the frost. People would call the gleaners to come pick zucchini, green beans or other crops that were getting ahead of them. Many years the group donated tens of thousands of pounds of produce to the Idaho Foodbank, the Kuna Senior Citizen Center, the Nazarene, Baptist and Methodist food pantries. Many members made rounds to homebound seniors, leaving a bag of potatoes and some winter squash when they left.
Recently the gleaning program has had to change, though. Places that used to let gleaners come pick, such as the U of I Agricultural Research Station, where potatoes and onions could be gathered by the trailer-full, had to cease letting individuals come into the fields. The danger of a lawsuit if someone were to get hurt was just too great.
So gleaning turned more to picking up extra food that is already harvested or otherwise ready to go. Two local organic farms, Rice Family Farm and True Roots Organics donate vegetables that may not be quite the right size or shape for the Farmer’s Market. A local factory donates tortillas that didn’t sell last week. Paul’s Grocery store in Kuna donates their leftover day-old bakery products twice a week. A bakery in Boise sends outdated bread products to a weekly food distribution at the Kuna Nazarene Church. In the past Fish and Game have even donated fish and wild meat.
Some generous folks around Kuna have planted extra-large gardens and when they come to pick up breads for their families, they bring the extra produce from their own gardens, or some extra farm-fresh eggs, and things like home-grown dried beans to share with others. This creates a wonderful circle of sharing. The main idea of the gleaners is to try to let nothing go to waste, and help get the food to the people who need it. And they seem to be doing a fine job of it, too.