The Gleaners and I

Earlier this week I watched The Gleaners and I, a French documentary by Agnes Varda about the agricultural tradition of gleaning, or picking over a field after the harvest and salvaging the useful food that remains. The film poignantly made the connection between this age-old practice and dumpster diving, the modern act of picking through the trash of supermarkets and restaurants for useful food that is thrown away.

As I watched I kept thinking about the fact that I never hear anything about American gleaning, though it must occur. I do have friends who dumpster dive, but I've never heard of people going through fields after a harvest, like the folks portrayed in the film.

Many French growers have specific parameters for allowing and restricting gleaning, and there are laws on the books for regulating the practice as well. The modern legislation is built on medieval tradition, which is built on ancient, biblical custom. From what I understand about European agriculture since medieval times, large tracts were controlled by the nobility and military elite. The typical farming family entered into a feudal arrangement with the landowner. Even after feudalism ended, vestiges of it kept most small-scale farmers from prospering.

Unlike Europe, where there has historically been a shortage of land--at least for the average farmer--America came into its own as a place of abundance. When the west was being settled the government offered parcels of 160 acres to folks who were able to improve them. Holdings of that size were inconceivable for a typical European farm. Perhaps this sheer abundance made this country a place where we don't often hear about rural gleaning.

Many of the people who Varda spoke to weren't gleaning because they were destitute, but rather out of a genuine respect for food, and the belief that it is too precious too be wasted. I wish we had more of that kind of respect in this country.