Volunteers reclaim fallen apples from orchards—and provide a healthy alternative for families in need.
by Natalie Ermann Russell

As about 100 Mary Baldwin College students arrive from Staunton for a day’s apple adventure at Johnson’s Orchards in Bedford, they rub the sleep from their eyes and contemplate the task that awaits them: salvaging the fallen apples from the ground, putting them into mesh sacks, and sending them off to feed the hungry.

What these college kids—and more than 6,000 other Virginia volunteers last year—are doing is called gleaning, a win-win effort for local orchards and for hunger-relief organizations. “The orchard isn’t able to sell apples that have fallen on the ground, so they’re delighted to have people come glean,” says Crista Cabe, vice president of public relations for Mary Baldwin College and participant in the gleaning event. “We do a service to the orchard as well as to the hungry.”

On the other side of the Blue Ridge Mountains in Nelson County, members of the Nelson United Methodist Church and workers from the New Prospect Pantry in Hurt are gleaning the apple orchards at Democracy Vineyards. They arrive about 9 a.m., and owner Jim Turpin greets the group with a large wooden crate overflowing with already picked Buckeye and Empire Gala apples in pristine condition. Instructions for the crew are to bag them up so they can be sent back to the New Prospect Pantry. “Families are overjoyed when they receive fresh produce from our agencies,” says Sarah Ramey, Virginia gleaning network director for the Society of St. Andrew (SOSA), which coordinates many such efforts, connecting surplus produce with hunger-relief organizations. “It is such a welcome treat and a healthier option than the packaged foods that usually line food banks’ shelves.”

Everyone promptly digs in, gently placing the fruit into plastic mesh bags and setting them behind the van where the scale resides. Ramey is overseeing the process, as the bags are filled, weighed, and logged. The group makes quick work of the Galas in the bin and is ready to move on to the trees.

“We were surprised with the amount of fruit that was left after the commercial harvest, and we thought there ought to be some use for it,” says Turpin, who adds that the process is mutually beneficial, given that SOSA has its own liability insurance and gives a tax credit according to the going rate for the apples.

Democracy is a new vineyard focused on making wines, but leases these apple trees to Drumheller’s Orchard just down the road. At this point in the Gala season, Drumheller’s is finished with its commercial picking. What remains isn’t worth bringing in the big machinery for, so these volunteer gleaners have lucked out with flawless fruit straight from the trees. Turpin sends SOSA the schedule of when his various apple varieties will be ripe, so the gleaners can come in three days to a week afterward.

Donning a sturdy mesh hat and some thick work gloves, Tim Tinsley, a volunteer with the Nelson Methodist Church, says he learned his lesson last time, when he picked up a fallen apple and was stung by a bee, many of which hover around the rotting fruit. “Last October when we picked here, about half of the apples on the ground were okay,” he
explains. “This year, the ones on the ground don’t look salvageable. So it’s great Mr. Turpin is letting us pick the trees.”

Each year, SOSA, which is based in Big Island, Virginia, works with 30,000 to 40,000 volunteers nationwide who glean between 15 and 20 million pounds of fresh produce—and not just apples. There have been potatoes, peaches, and almost anything else a farmer has to offer.

Back at Democracy, 2-year-old Kenneth is helping the group. He’s not talking much yet, but he’s determined to push the white wire cart—which is big enough to hold three of him—up and down the hill, carrying the bags of apples to the van. “It is a great opportunity to teach children about hunger and poverty in our world,” says Ramey. “It is also a visual learning experience, seeing how much food goes to waste.” A good lesson at any age.

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