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Gleaning America's Fields ~ Feeding America's Hungry
Nearly one million North Carolinians and over 34 million Americans spend some portion of each month not knowing where their next meal will come from. At the same time that people are going with out adequate nutritious food, over 96 billion pounds of food go to waste each year. In North Carolina, each year more than 100 millions pounds of edible nutritious produce never makes it to market. People of the Christian faith are trouble by these two conflicting reality. How can nutritious food go to waste while people are going hungry? Each Christian has been called to be a good steward of creation and each Christian has been called by Jesus to feed those who go without.
In God’s wisdom, the command to glean the fields of surplus has been given. Society of St. Andrew bases its work in the biblical command to glean the fields to assure that the poor will have food to eat. In gleaning the fields, a gleaner cannot help but learn that there is more than enough food for everyone. It is simply a matter of accessing the surplus and distributing it equitably.
As scripture notes: When you reap your harvest in your field and forget a sheaf in the field, you shall not go back to get it; it shall be left for the alien, the orphan, and the widow, so that the LORD your God may bless you in all your undertakings. Deuteronomy 24:19 (NRSV)
Society of St. Andrew is a ministry that has gleaned both fields and packing houses to provide food for the poor. The North Carolina regional office is part of a nationwide gleaning network that puts gleaned produce in the lower forty-eight states.
This ministry is not unlike a three-legged stool: produce donors, volunteers that help to access and distribute produce, and agencies to utilize the food. With more than 500 produce donors in North Carolina, more than 2,000 agencies statewide can access gleaned produce from Society of St. Andrew. Volunteers are the key to maintaining low overhead. A serving of fresh gleaned produce is provided at a program cost of two-cents per serving. In 2006 more than 10,100 volunteers from across North Carolina took part in this essential work.
On every level, the United Methodists of Eastern North Carolina play an important role in this work. Society of St. Andrew has produce donors (farmers and packers) who are United Methodist. Society of St. Andrew works through a variety of United Methodist Church based pantries. There are hundreds of United Methodist Churches who donate dollars and time to make this ministry work. Gleaners come in every age, size, and color. Some of Society of St. Andrew’s most faithful financial donors have been Vacation Bible School children who have gleaned quarters, nickels, dimes and pennies!
One of the wonderful aspects of ministry through gleaning is the opportunity for families to join in outreach together. Oftentimes fields will contain persons from ages three years to ninety-three. Toddlers and grandparents can be seen sharing a bucket as they collect sweet-potatoes, collards, or beans that otherwise would have been plowed back under. As Jaye White of Haymount United Methodist Church in Fayetteville noted, “It’s a cool way for a family to get dirty and have fun together!”
Following some gleanings there is a local distribution. In such cases the food will be on someone’s dinner plate by the end of the day. From field to table for pennies per pound is not simply a way to feed the hungry, it is an act of worship. As Jesus says, “I was hungry, and you fed me.”
In the North Carolina Conference of the United Methodist Church there are 816 churches. Of those churches 23% are engaged in hands on gleaning or contributing money from their church. However, because of faithful support of North Carolina Conference Churches to the apportionments, all North Carolina Conference churches take part in this important work. If your church is not currently involved in this faithful work, please contact Society of St. Andrew and find out what work you can be part of.
Society of St. Andrew - North Carolina (800) Gleannc (800) 453-2662
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