Thousands Glean Fields For Food In USA

You shoulda seen the crowds down in Texas after the carrot digging machine did its work.
Hauled a few bags of stuff home on more than one occasion as a kid.

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Deja Moo; The feeling I've heard this bull before.

Well according yto the Bible you are not to glean your own fields,you are to leave it just for times as this.

big rockpile

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Why is this disturbing to you?

People are out of the house, outside in fresh air and sunshine, learning about food production, being productive, learning to work in food prduction, getting exercise, helping themselves and others. It's about time. Imagine all the food that went to waste in the past. It's about time this becomes more widespread. It has been done here in the broccoli (side shoot) and potato fields for a very long time.

People glean our field every year. It's common sense.

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Robin

That is an excellent point Robin.

Most kids raised in metro areas think food comes from the store. After digging around the fields for a while I bet people will appreciate their food "from the store" a little more.

I guess it all depends on your opinion. It could mean people are having hard times. It could mean people are taking advantage of a freebee. I do know folks with major bucko bucks who would be the first in line for this. For others it would be a family picnic. It all depends on how you want to spin it.

last year I had 3 acres of purple top turnips. mustard greens & georgia collards.WOHEE these are good eating!! I put a sign uo that they were free & had sacks to put them in ,Just go and get them.. NOT 1 person picked them! about 25 wanted me to pick them for them. so I went to the rescue mission & told them I had LOADS of free greens & turips. there was bums sitting all over the place waiting for a free lunch. The guy told me to pick them & he would cook them.
These peole want to eat but not work.
I took the harrows & turned them under

I wish I new of farmers in my area that would let me glean there fields. But it's mostly field corn or sugar beets around here.

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If the grass looks greener it is probably over the septic tank. - troy n sarah tx

Our existance here is soley for the expoitation of CMG

Probably because of the first sentence in the story;

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Ever tried? Ever failed? No Matter, try again, fail again. Fail better.

- Samuel Beckett

Some of it might be the economy, but I think that things like this have gained a lot more popularity as things like freecycle have also taken off. It seems like almost everyone I know uses freecycle for things. If you had said ten years ago that people across the country people would be meeting to trade things instead of throwing them away you would have been called crazy.

A lot of people are also a lot more interested in where their food comes from. "Locally grown" is the first stipulation I hear when people on the local parenting group are asking for a place to buy food. U-pick places are doing a lot of business because of the novelty of actually harvesting your own food. (Imagine that?)

I bet that there were more people than expected because of some great communication networks too. Local email groups probably spread the word amongst members. Local charities heard about it and probably both went to get food and told those that they assist about it too. This also sounds like a well-known place, that people already knew about it. If they expected 10,000 people to begin with, they were probably doing some of their own advertising too.

I think the economy may have encouraged people to get out there, but I don't think that all of those people showed up because they would otherwise have nothing to eat. This fits the exact profile of an event some people I know would go to, because they would consider it trendy and green and etc, etc, etc. And they have plenty of money to buy groceries.

Kayleigh

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http://kayleighjeanne.blogspot.com

RATS!
We just drove past that farm a few weeks ago and thought we should stop and pick. lol

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

Could be signs of awakening. Maybe people's minds are connected to their stomachs. What a shame if in years past much of that went to waste. also makes you wonder about farming as a business that can have this much waste. Maybe we need Paul Harvey for the rest of the story.

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"Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self confidence"
Robert Frost

My folks out in California have belonged to a group called "Senior Gleaners" for quite a few years. My mom says they pretty much are able to eat off what they get from the group.
I know this group has been around at least 35 years.

There is a lot to glean from those fields.

Sugar Beet make a great complement for sheep, goat, donkey, rabbit cow ....., my grandfather was blessed to live near a sugar plant, beets were just in big pile on the other side of the fence....

Corn, boy I just make what is probably my last trip to a corn field yesterday to get some more corn that have missed the truck and were waiting for me on the ground, I have been doing this for years, hitching the donkey, making sure that the vaccum is working, a can of gas for the small generator and go to the field... not sure if it is cheapper than just bying it but that a good way to be outside with the kids at that time of the year.

I just hope that those people know how to preserve all these food, it is nopt so easy to keep some big bag of potato in well heated city homes....

Just had a farmer who work's ground around our place stop a few days ago and drop off some bags 3 of spilled out of his combine Many thanks told to him.will use for my chickens later, In turn we will be going to give to others less fortunate that us. If you can, share. we can all get by togather!!!

I used to care for an old Russian lady - one day we drove past an old apple tree with tiny apples lying on the ground, and she turned to me and said, "If this were Russia, there wouldn't be one apple on the ground. We used everything"!

Maybe we are all waking up.......

Don't get me wrong, the farmer was 100% right on, and it is the right thing to do. But if you look behind the act of kindness, I see families struggling with small children. And I see it as a sign of the hardships that are starting to fall upon families all over the world. Even here in N. America.

I just found your screen name interesting. I am a Free mason from Michigan. De Molay is a historical figure in Masonary.

Current US population... over 300M. How many of those work the dirt every day?

Everyone else is subject to starving...

When you give something away for free, people will show up...

I wonder how many of those people spent more money going out to pick up some food, than the food would cost at the grocery store?

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Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. Seneca
Learning is not compulsory... neither is survival. W. Edwards Deming

My guess is that with the large migrant/illegal population in Colorado that what you saw was the folks that know how to harvest and are more likely to do it.

Most people are going to see what they want to see.

I see a smart practice and practical (although possibly illegal) people taking them up on their generosity.

Others are going to see this as a sign of the bad things... which I guess it could be, but this wasn't food riots, increased child hunger, etc.

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