SUPPORTING THE CORNISH COMMUNITY AND BEYOND...
Gleaning Cornwall has been set up to help feed those in poverty at a time when numbers of people struggling to put food on the table have rocketed, minimise waste and reconnect people with the land. Launched by Regenerative Food and Farming CIC, Gleaning Cornwall harvests surplus food and delivers it to food banks, community kitchens, community larders and cupboards. Produce is donated free of charge on the agreement that it is free to the end user. In doing so they are bringing an age-old practice to avoid waste into the 21st century.
OUR MISSION
To ensure healthy, nutritious, fresh produce is available free of charge to as many as possible experiencing food insecurity across Cornwall and West Devon and to reduce on farm and other food waste.
Fresh fruits and vegetables are going to waste. Thousands of hungry people in Cornwall are in need of nourishing, healthy food.
Gleaning Cornwall works to reduce farm waste, rescuing produce so it ends up on hungry peoples’ tables, instead of in a landfill or rotting in the field. But, we don’t do it alone. Thanks to our dedicated team of volunteers, growers and financial donors, Gleaning Cornwall, brings apples, squash, tomatoes, broccoli, carrots, potatoes, cabbages and many other kinds of healthy fruits and vegetables, completely free of charge, to organisations feeding our hungry Cornish families.
This waste is not the fault of the farmers but is a result of:
- having great growing conditions, so there is surplus.
- Crops grow at different rates and with the cost of labour being high, it is sometimes not economically viable to harvest a crop more than once or twice.
- Farmers need to slightly over produce to ensure they have enough for their contracts.
- Crops may be slightly too big, too small, the wrong shape or colour.
- Market conditions change.
Together, we can do more. There are many ways to get involved, working together we can continue to rescue hundreds of tonnes of healthy food for hungry people…