Colorado Gleaning

As soon as I started wondering why I'd never heard of gleaning in this country, I started hearing about it.

Thanksgiving week a 600 acre farm near Denver made a public announcement that they were opening their fields for gleaning. 40,000 people showed up, in fact, the folks at the farm had to use dozens of acres for parking alone, and the event backed up traffic in their area.

The accounts I heard made me wonder how many of the people who showed up were actually experiencing food security issues. The Huffington Post quoted a woman who worked for a technology company talking about how much produce she was able to take away. Even the fact that there were 11,000 cars makes me wonder how badly the folks who showed up actually needed the food: the neediest people don't own cars.

I realize I'm making some assumptions here based on incomplete knowledge, and I'm sure some of the people who turned out really needed the food. Still, this was the same week that shoppers at a Long Island Wal Mart trampled an employee to death trying to take advantage of those door buster deals. I guess this really is gleaning, American style: a sensationalized free for all. I do hope we get better at it, and learn how to deliver this surplus food into the hands of the people who need it most.