I had no epiphany. No transcendental enlightenment. At least not while I was walking down the long and verdant corridors of cornrows swaying and swishing like some cosmic leafed-out beaded curtains. I was there to work, to glean ripe sweet corn, one cob at a time... twist and tug, twist and tug, twist and tug... until my little corner of the field was harvested.
I was one of 20+volunteer gleaners who in two hours harvested over 1,700 pounds of fresh corn that would've otherwise been plowed under. We represented a wide swathe of community who'd come out to do some good work on an achingly beautiful late-summer morning. And Jamie O'Gorman, our leader and the coordinator of Island Grown Gleaning (IGG) (http://www.islandgrown.org/gleaning) made short order of getting the corn into the hands of school cafeteria directors to help support healthier lunches for students. From that one farm (www.morninggloryfarm.com) the bounty was quickly distributed as donations first to the schools and then to elder centers, recovery and employment programs and even the county jail. IGG manages gleans that have donated over 12,000 pounds of fresh veggies like greens, carrots, beets, beans, corn and squashes, in this growing season alone.
These are great things to behold.
Most of the volunteers had heard about the glean from the local papers. However one man learned about it through his church. "This is really biblical, isn't it?" I commented. "Gleaning? It's in the Bible?" he replied. I winced. It was great he was there but that threw me. I thought gleaning was woven into us, into the very fabric and foundations of agrarian societies. To save food that would otherwise be plowed under. The redistribution of wealth, taking care of those who for whatever reasons, need help... it's all there in the Bible, the Torah. Right? So why, when and how did we miss it?
Picking corn, I mulled it all over. How sorely disconnected we are from our food from where it comes from, how it's grown, who grows it, even how to cook it to who gets access to it. Sadly given this context, it wasn't surprising then, that the divides between history, culture, religion -- to farms, gleaning and feeding community, would be any different.
In Deuteronomy 24:19-22 from the Torah portion, Ki Tetzei, three times G-d commands farmers to leave food in their fields for "... the stranger, the fatherless and the widow." Rabbi Caryn Broitman of the Martha's Vineyard Hebrew Center interprets "the stranger" as today's immigrants. "The fatherless" as children "and the widow" as the elderly and the unemployed because historically, a widow was one who had no ability or access due to circumstances, to make a living on their own. Gleaning quite literally connects the margins of the fields to the people who are marginalized in our food systems, one harvest at a time.
Today, good whole food is being plowed under while there's a battle raging out there about highly processed, sugared and fatty foods generally served to students in school systems. The frightening epidemic of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes is so disturbing and seemingly ironic, against the backdrop of the USDA's recently released stats on the number of children in our country who were "food insecure" in 2010: 16.2 million. Food (re)distribution, access and costs are complex, multi-dimensional issues. But it's the kind of food and the kind of education we provide for our children that raises awareness, creates change and solutions to our problems.
There are many legitimate reasons (beyond Biblical commandments) why a farm will have food left in its peripheries, vulnerable to being tilled under and they are not necessarily reflections of bad or wasteful farming practices. Frequently it's situational, such as a lack or loss of labor or severe and dramatic changing weather patterns. On larger farms, mechanized harvesting techniques can skip over produce. Blemishes on tomatoes for example, can deem them as seconds, and hence not economically valuable enough for a farmer to harvest whilst they will be perfectly good, healthy and safe to eat or to process or put up for later. The potential to help feed the margins is all in the farms. It's a matter of connecting the dots to get it to them.
Taking a break that day, we shucked a few cobs for ourselves to taste. Raw, from stalk to mouth, warm sweet corn milk burst, kernel by kernel. I was humbly reminded that I'm able to stand in this part of the field today by the grace of G-d. For tomorrow, it could not be so for my family and me. I mean, aren't we all "the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow?" It was a blessing to work, to take action and enjoy the fruits of my labor so sensually and spiritually. One gleaner, a boy all of seven, maybe eight years old, exclaimed with kernels stuck between his toothy grin, "This corn tastes better than candy!" And I thought, "Lord, you are one lucky kid..."
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Gleaning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Glean - Definition and More from the Free Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Gleaning A Harvest For The Needy, And Fighting Waste Of Farm ...
U.S. REP. JIM MCGOVERN INTRODUCES BIPARTISAN “GLEANING” BILL U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (MA-03) today announced that he has introduced bipartisan legislation to encourage the practice of gleaning. Gleaning involves ensuring that produce that is not initially harvested does not go to waste. "H.R. 3177, the Hunger Relief Trucking Tax Credit Act would encourage and reward individuals and businesses who haul gleaned food from one location to another within the U.S. Many trucking companies and individuals pay for transportation of this food out of their own pockets. The Hunger Relief Trucking Tax Credit Act would create a 25 cent tax credit for each mile that food is transported for a charity by a donated truck and driver for hunger relief efforts. This legislation will support those who are already transporting food donations and entice more companies to do so. We must make every effort to bring food to those who rely on it to feed themselves and their families.”
and the vowel in the sacred name is never explicit.
The Bible is not "medieval thought"... might want to check your history there, buddy.
After we closed in 1970, farmers later had to terminate the open to the community policy because a few law suits started when a injury occurred and as the landowner was considered negligent was the target. One twisted an ankle trying to jump a drainage ditch. The lawyers stated there were no warning signs about the "danger" of ditches. They settled out of court without an admission of guilt.. Another became sick and ended up in the hospital over an allergic reaction to some as yet unnamed substance, but it happened in the farmer's field. They also settled without admission of guilt.
Yes gleaning is a nice Christian concept, but the fear of a lawsuit in this litigious nation makes it impossible.
Then 1 click away there is another article attempting (poorly) to ridicule pres. candidates for having biblical values. So which way do you want it?
It's Meatless Monday tomorrow folks. I'm making President Obama's recipe for Kenyan Vegetable Curry. It's in a cookbook titled "Capitol Hill Cooks" that I got for Christmas.
Well. Someone doesn't get out often.
Why so cynical?