Food Banks, Food Pantries, Soup Kitchens, and Churches

 

How to Receive Surplus Crops from SoSA

Fill out the form on this page. Our program coordinator for your state will get in touch with you to talk about the possibilities.

• Our volunteers pick up or harvest produce from farms, orchards, and farmers markets.
• Growers and packers donate entire truckloads of food that is surplus or rejected for cosmetic reasons.
• We deliver the food to food banks, churches, pantries, and other agencies. There is no cost to the agency receiving the food.
• You will have fresh fruits and vegetables to add to your program.
• Hungry people will get fresh, nutritious food, thanks to your generosity.
• We’ve been doing this more than 30 years – currently 25-30 million pounds a year – it works!

What Sets Us Apart …
SoSA is the nation’s largest gleaner of fresh produce.
We salvage produce at the farm and packing-house level that cannot be sold due to market constraints.
We supply fresh vegetables and fruit that helps to improve the health and well-being of society’s most vulnerable.
We have no handling fees – there is no cost to the agencies for the food we provide, helping to stretch tight budgets.
The environment benefits; the food we salvage by the tractor-trailer load does not end up in landfills, but on the plates of the hungry.

Who Receives our Food?
The produce we collected by our volunteer gleaners, and the food received as donations from growers and packing houses, goes to food pantries, food banks, low-income and elderly housing complexes, social service agencies, group homes, homeless shelters, rehab facilities, and more. Within 24-48 hours of picking, you can distribute the produce to hungry people in your community.

What is Gleaning?
Gleaning is an ancient tradition mentioned in the Old Testament of the Bible. Gleaners are allowed into fields and orchards to pick fruits and vegetables after the grower’s harvest. One quarter of all food produced for human consumption is lost annually in the United States – enough to feed about 50 million people Since it might be unmarketable or not worth picking for market reasons, produce is sometimes plowed under or left to rot, though it is perfectly edible and nutritious.
At the Society of St. Andrew, we work with farmers who allow gleaners to pick what is left. The Society of St. Andrew also salvages fruits and vegetables that have already been picked and cannot be sold for various reasons.

Who are Gleaners?
They are people of all ages, rich and poor, who want to give of their time. We connect individuals, faith groups, scout troops, clubs, schools and senior citizen groups with growers.