Farmers, Packers, and Farmers Markets

 Gleaning Image

Use our form to ask questions or indicate your interest. Our coordinator for your state will get back to you.

 

♦  In gleaning areas, our volunteers will glean your leftover crops. A trained supervisor will be in charge. And the Good Samaritan Food Donation Act protects you.

♦  We’ll deliver the food to food banks, churches, pantries, soup kitchens, and other feeding agencies. There is no cost to the agency.

♦  Hungry people receive fresh, nutritious food, thanks to your generosity.

♦  You’ll receive a year-end letter acknowledging your charitable donations for your use as you file your taxes.

♦  We’ve been doing this for 36 years – currently distributing 25-30 million pounds a year – it works!

Send Us a Note

When you fill out this form, your contact information will go to a coordinator for your state. That person will get back to you.

Note:  We ask what county you are in to help us send specific, helpful information. To find what county you live in, use this page.

In Virginia only, cities are not inside of counties — enter the county you are most closely associated with.



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.

  • Thank you for all you do.–Wanemah Kuykendall

  • To all the farmers who donate their life-saving crops to be God’s hands and feet, feeding the hungry, my grateful appreciation for doing what I cannot do myself.–Jean Mosteller

  • Many thanks to you who prepare the soil, furnish the seeds, fertilizer, and machinery to grow the food the Society of St. Andrew’s Club helps distribute. The long hours when the weather cooperates leaves your body tired but thankful you were able to do the labor. I no longer am able to do the work but until I was 85 years old, I did it on the small scale. We were surrounded with older widow women so we gathered and distributed our large garden to our neighbors. I now have a neighbor who uses my land and tools to make a small garden so I do still have the produce at 97 ½ years. Many thanks…–Emma Catlett

  • Thank you, farmers, for your intentional & tireless efforts as partners in helping feed the hungry & vulnerable of our communities, in so many places.–Tom Ballard

  • Thank you so much for donating your excess crops to feed the hungry. You help ensure that good food is made available to feed hungry families. God bless you.–Margaret Barton

  • I know first-hand how hard farming is and seasonal uncertainties are a fact of life for those doing this work. Thank you for sharing what you produce!–Georgia Wilson

  • Thank you for joining us in being the hands and feet of Christ, as we feed the hungry.–Carlos Liceaga

  • Thank you for being such a blessing to others. May you be greatly blessed in return.–Nancy Kent