Betsy Williams (left) and Susie Macrae juggle some of the harvest. (Courtesy photo)

Five-year-olds Sawyer and Tucker Madison know a lot about squash after harvesting butternut, Hubbard, acorn, and turban squash from Still River's Willard Farm this fall. The Glenview Drive brothers, along with their mother, Risa Goldman, are members of the Glean Team, a local group only six months old that is already having a big impact on local food assistance. The hundreds of pounds of squash the team collected in November found its way to regional family tables through three local food pantries and two community kitchens, along with other generous donations the group "gleaned" this year.

The Glean Team is an extension of the Harvard Unitarian Universalist Church (HUUC) Ethical Eating Study and Action Group. Its stated goals are "to combat hunger, reduce food waste, and raise community awareness in ways that are simple, easy and joyful."

The group was started last fall by HUUC parishioners Cary Browse, Susie Macrae, Pam Frederick, and Betsy Williams, inspired by a sermon on gleaning given by Rev. Wendy Bell. After several meetings during the fall and winter, the team posted a sign-up sheet, which drew 40 volunteers.

As word has spread about the group, community members from outside the church have joined in. Recently the team began partnering with a Littleton-based group.

What gleaning looks like

Gleaning is the practice of salvaging unharvested crops from fields or leftover market food that might otherwise be thrown out. In 19th-century England, some villages designated specific times when nonlandowners could glean the fields, a practice depicted in Jean-Francois Millet's famous painting "The Gleaners." The practice has a long history in Judeo-Christian tradition to feed people in need. An Old Testament passage instructs farmers: "And when you reap your land's harvest, you shall not finish off the edge of your field, nor pick up the gleanings of your harvest. And your vineyard you shall not pluck bare, nor pick up the fallen fruit of your vineyard. For the poor and for the sojourner you shall leave them."

Starting in August, the Glean Team gathered unsold produce and baked goods from the Harvard Farmers' Market, as well as donations and gleanings of corn and squash from Willard Farm and gleanings from Harper Farm in Leominster. They sorted and distributed the bounty to Loaves & Fishes, a food pantry in Devens; WHEAT, a Clinton-based food and services organization; and the Community Café, WHEAT's community kitchen, which serves a hot meal six days a week. With more of Willard's squash on hand than those three organizations could use, the team took the remainder to Open Table, a community supper and food pantry program in Concord and Maynard.

In addition to gleaning and collecting food donations, the Glean Team cooked squash bread and ginger squash soup to sell at the Harvard Flea Market, and they joined the HUUC Ethical Eating group to prepare and serve lunch for more than 70 people participating in the recent Harvard Historical Society House Tour.

How the team works

Although a desire to help others may be the starting point for many in the group, other factors keep people interested. As a recent potluck revealed, the Glean Team/Ethical Eating participants enjoy each other's company, share food, recipes, and ideas, and have fun.

They also avoid formal meetings, something member Kate Deyst, cofounder of the successful Growing Places Garden Project (GPGP), appreciates. After the intensity of launching GPGP and seven years of spring weekends devoted to building and planting raised garden beds for low-income families, she likes the "loose organization and creativity" and the manageable time commitment. Deyst praises the humor, levity, and joy of the group. "And we don't take ourselves too seriously," she says.

Old Littleton Road resident Lisa Oldham values the strength of numbers that can turn personal inspiration into group results.

"It's the action part of the Ethical Eating group; it allows us to walk the talk," says Macrae.

Volunteers make it all work, and the team keeps commitments short, inviting anyone with an hour or two to choose a project that suits their time and inclination. Opportunities include helping to glean local fields on short notice; picking up unsold food from Harvard Farmers' Market vendors or from local farm stands; dropping off donations at the HUUC Fellowship Building; sorting; delivering to the local food pantries; helping to create prepared foods from gleaned produce; contributing extras from a home garden; or assisting with fundraising projects or community education. (Would-be volunteers can contact Cary Browse, Risa Goldman, or Susie Macrae.)

What's next

With gardens and fields bedded down for the winter and the Farmers' Market closed, the Glean Team is turning to its next goal of gleaning from local supermarkets. After positive initial meetings with management at Roche Bros. in Acton, the team is developing a proposal and schedule for regular pickup and distribution for the market's extra produce.

The Glean Team plans to partner with the HUUC Ethical Eating Study and Action Group to purchase a refrigerator-freezer to store food for later distribution. "We found that some produce was going bad before we could get it to the food pantries," says Macrae. In the long run, the refrigerator/freezer will allow them to donate more fresh produce and prepared foods.

Recently the team launched a three-part food film series and invited other local groups to collaborate on engaging the larger community. The group is planning a January event that will include a community supper and a short film about new farming ideas that may hold the future for family farms.