The City of Orlando’s Office of Sustainability and Resilience recently hit a big milestone in their “food gleaning” initiative — 100,000 pounds of produce saved from Central Florida farms since 2020. We wrote about the food gleaning program in 2023.
Food gleaning is done after a harvest, when there is often still edible food left in a field, whether it was missed, dropped, too small, misshapen, damaged, or for some other reason. Volunteers walk back through a field picking up the food by hand.
According to the City, what started as a simple effort to harvest uncollected produce from local fields has grown into a powerful way to bring fresh, locally grown food to Orlando residents.
In partnership with the Society of St. Andrew, EndHunger.org, the effort has now rescued over 100,000 pounds of produce — diverting it to city neighborhood centers, local food distribution centers and city urban farms, where it’s given directly to residents.
“The City of Orlando’s Office of Sustainability and Resilience is proud to celebrate a major milestone in our mission to reduce food waste and nourish our community,” said Daniel Friedline, Sustainability Initiative manager for the City of Orlando.
“Through our partnership with the Society of St. Andrew, we’ve harvested and shared more than 100,000 pounds of fresh produce — bringing healthy, local food directly to Neighborhood Centers, community organizations and residents at McQuigg Urban Farm since 2020. This achievement reflects our commitment to building a more sustainable and resilient Orlando, one fresh harvest at a time.”
A volunteer helps glean a field, finding leftover edible produce that is donated to Orlando residents. (CITY OF ORLANDO)