Published Clips
Chad Neuman
Okanagan Gleaners Harvest Food for the Poor
January/February 2004
In the early 1990s a small group of Christians observed that a large quantity of food in Canada was left to rot in the fields and not harvested. At the same time they saw images of starving children on the television. They knew they could do something to connect those two realities. So in 1994 they founded Okanagan Gleaners in the South Okanagan Valley, B.C.
The Gleaners base their work on the Old Testament idea of gleaning surplus produce to provide for those in need. Using a donated tobacco-drying barn converted into a food-processing plant, the Gleaners process the donated vegetables into dried soup-mix.
Most of the produce is offered to the Gleaners because there is a surplus of a variety, or the fruit and vegetables are oversized, undersized, blemished or not the uniform colour demanded at market.
In the first three years of operation the Gleaners produced more than one million servings of soup. The Gleaners also prepare and dry thousands of pounds of apples each year. The food aid is distributed through mission agencies such as World Vision and Mennonite Central Committee.
"In the last month we have harvested year-end bell pepper fields. We now have access to pick apple orchards where the apples do not meet colour requirements. Hothouses are a good source, since their market demands 'perfect looking' product, resulting in vast quantities of peppers and tomatoes being available to us," says John Martens, president of Okanagan Gleaners.
The Okanagan Gleaners (www.okanagangleaners.com) welcome volunteer assistance in sorting and processing the produce. Martens says that since there is a wide range of believers helping, it has "resulted in broader support from the Christian community at large, as there is no denominational emphasis. Results are astounding when we watch the fellowship of volunteers of varied denominations working together in harmony."
