GLEANING
WE ARE PASSIONATE ABOUT REDUCING THE ENORMOUS AMOUNT OF
PREVENTABLE FOOD WASTE ON FARMS
WHAT IS GLEANING ?
Gleaning – the practice of collecting leftover crops from farms after commercial harvest – is gaining momentum in the UK as a vital line of defence against food waste at the farm gate. Despite an abundance of produce, much fruit and vegetables are rejected before leaving the field due to stringent cosmetic standards demanded by supermarkets. Perfect shape, uniform size and blemish‑free skins are no longer preferences, but requirements. This means that high‑quality, edible produce is often ploughed back into the soil or left to rot.
Gleaning rescues this surplus, redirecting it to charities, food banks, and community kitchens. It tackles multiple challenges, including:
- Offering fresh, nutritious food to communities with insecure access to food
- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by cutting decomposition
- Connecting gleaning volunteers – often city dwellers – with the land
With new initiatives streamlining the coordination of regional networks and stronger partnerships between farmers, food businesses, and gleaning charities, the practice is growing rapidly.
In the UK’s climate-conscious and food‑insecure environment, gleaning not only curbs waste – it builds resilience, equity, and sustainability across the food supply chain.
SOME STARTLING STATISTICS
The numbers below really speak for themselves in highlighting the issues surrounding food poverty and food waste.
FOOD
WASTE
3 million
tonnes of food estimated to be lost and wasted on farms each year
SUPERMARKET
POWER
20-40%
of fruit and vegetables are rejected or wasted even before reaching the shops
CHILD
HUNGER
Nearly 1 in 5
children in the UK are at risk of going hungry each morning
HOW TO GET INVOLVED
There are currently 28 gleaning groups across the UK and the potential for many as there is so much surplus food on farms. A huge champion of the cause is charity FOOD RISE (formerly Feedback), which has not only been gleaning on farms through its social enterprise Sussex Surplus, but have created a Gleaning Toolkit to map existing groups and offer advice to new ones thinking of getting out onto farms.
DEFRA FUNDING
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) recently announced funding to stop thousands of tonnes of nutritious food being wasted on farms.
This includes funding for Foodrise’s Gleaning Network to deliver a partnership project with six existing gleaning groups across England who last year collectively shifted more than 70 tonnes of surplus produce from farms into the community for people to eat.
Foodrise is leading the gleaning project alongside Khepera in Buckinghamshire, Sussex Surplus in Brighton, Avon Gleaning Network based across Bristol and Bath, Deal With It who are part of Transition Deal in Kent, Still Good Food in Bury St Edmunds and Alchemic Kitchen in Merseyside.
DOWNLOAD THE TOOLKIT
Toolkit
VIEW THE MAP TO FIND YOUR LOCAL GLEANING BRANCH
Toolkit
Phil Holtam, Regional Programmes Manager at Foodrise, said:
“We’re thrilled that our gleaning partnership has received this new funding. Gleaning is a brilliant example of environmental and social action – food waste is reduced, the complexity of food and farming is better understood, communities engage in social action, and marginalised communities are able to access healthy, nutritious food. We’re looking forward to getting going in partnership with six other brilliant organisations to tackle food waste and feed our communities.”
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT FOOD RISE BELOW
www.foodrise.org.uk
GLEANING NEWS & VIEWS
Keep up to date with what the foundation and all the great organisations are doing – initiatives, campaigns and everything else that is making such a difference in improving access to healthy food.
Would you like to help ?
If you have any enquiries or would like to find out how you can become involved with the foundation then please do get in touch. We would love to hear from you.
We will do our best to respond to all enquiries as quickly as possible.