Are you aware of the amount of food that gets wasted? Whether it spoils in our fridges, is thrown out at grocery stores, or rots in farmers’ fields, it is shocking how much food does not end up in someone’s stomach. It is a known fact that there is enough food in the world to feed everyone, but people still go hungry (Oxfam). One of the causes of hunger is the unequal distribution of food, and a specific group of organizations called "gleaners" is working to remedy that. Gleaner organizations can be found across Canada. They take produce that is not used or sold by farmers, process it, and send it off to locations around the world. They see the problem of food being wasted in Canada as an opportunity to address hunger around the world. Gleaning is the act of gathering the leftover produce in a field or orchard after the initial harvest. The concept of allowing vulnerable people in a society, such as widows, orphans or immigrants, to glean in a field is as old as the Bible (Leviticus 23:22). The gleaners just take this concept one step further by collecting the food themselves in order to send it out to vulnerable people in our global society.
Jenn Bate, a first-time SOOPer from Richmond Hill, Ontario, went to work with two different gleaner organizations in British Columbia last fall. The Okanagan Gleaners Society in Oliver was established first, and the Fraser Valley Gleaners Society in Abbotsford was modeled after them. The gleaners accept donations of produce from local orchards and farms, and with volunteer labor process and dry the produce so that it can be shipped around the world to where people need food.
In spring 2016, Jenn realized that she would have an "empty nest" in the fall, and at that time she started to feel called to travel, specifically with the purpose of being "the hands and feet of Jesus" wherever she would go. Jenn found herself a used van, and with the help of many skilled friends and family, fixed it up so it would be ready for the journey of more than 4,000 km to British Columbia. She created her own little home away from home with just enough amenities to create her own "bed and breakfast" for the two months she would be away. Now that her trip is over, Jenn is dreaming up ways of letting this mobile bed and breakfast bless others in the future.
The interior of Jenn Bate’s van, fitted with drapes and a custom-made bed frame. Photo by Jenn Bate.
Once Jenn made it to the gleaners, she parked her van among the RVs at the onsite campground. Both locations have a campground, and a main building where the work is carried out every day. Jenn worked with the gleaners for a total of seven weeks, and she saw firsthand that "from day to day, the gleaners don’t know how many workers will come to help out or just what veggies will be donated. Yet every day, regardless, there was a job for everyone and the work got done. [It was] so incredible. It totally blew me away to daily see how God provided product and people."
Andy Brandt and Dave Traub work on the gleaning floor at Fraser Valley Gleaners. Photo by Jenn Bate.
Every day there was a list of jobs, and people could choose where they wanted to work. Jenn purposefully chose different tasks each day in order to get to know more people and learn about their lives. One gentleman she got to know was Andy Brandt. He is 97 years old, but still volunteers at the Fraser Valley Gleaners every morning. He was a passionate farmer, and even though he doesn’t work his fields anymore, he is still working to help feed people around the world. This is just one of the many volunteers with incredible stories about how they consistently and quietly continue to find ways to be involved through their work with the gleaners.
Thomas Thumbach at Garnett Hollow Organic Farm in Summerland, British Columbia, digs up potatoes that will be collected by volunteers from the Okanagan Gleaners and donated to make soup. Photo by Jenn Bate.
Jenn went with the purpose of blessing the people that she would work with, but she came away from the experience feeling like she was the one who had been blessed. "God’s incredible Spirit of joy was so evident in the gleaners and staff. This joy inspired me to write a song which I called the "gleaner keener song." Another gleaner and I performed it and dedicated it to the gleaners and staff and God for their cheerful work." Here are the lyrics:
Verse 1: We are the gleaner keeners who love to chop and chat. Some youthful, youthful seniors make soup with that.
Verse 2: Caring, loving, caring. We feed God’s folk in need. The love of Christ we’re sharing, and lives are changed indeed.
Chorus:
Soup for the body,
Soup for the soul,
To God be the glory,
Chop, chop we go.
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