Editor’s note: This story is part of NWPB's efforts to report not just on problems, but on how our communities are seeking solutions. Want to see more stories like this? Let us know at [email protected]. Support this kind of work by donating today.
One nonprofit in Walla Walla is addressing a food shipment shortfall ... through something called gleaning. NWPB's Erick Bengel joined host Avery Cooper to discuss.
Avery Cooper: Erick, your story explores how a local nonprofit lost more than half its food shipments and how local growers are responding. What made you want to report on this story?
Erick Bengel: I was moved by the idea that you had this organization that’s charged with making people’s lives better. They were suddenly faced with this problem where they knew they couldn’t couldn’t continue to provide food at the level they had been. They just decided to get ahead of the problem and get creative. So, they looked at what they already do, and they found a solution, and that was to focus on gleaning, which is something they’ve dabbled in.
Although, from what I understand, it was pretty negligible before, and they turned that into a concerted effort. From the outside, it sounds kind of implausible. How much extra food can you really get from gardens and how much free food can you really get from farms? Yet, they managed to make up for some of that loss. Not quite half this first year. They lost more than 40,000 pounds of food and they only brought in about 15,000 pounds. But, as a kind of proof of concept, it was encouraging, and BMAC expects to bring in a lot more produce this year.
Cooper: Blue Mountain Action Council, or BMAC, addressed these cuts through that gleaning program. For those who are unfamiliar, can you tell us what gleaning is?
Bengel: So, the way gleaning operates at BMAC is to basically take surplus produce from farms and gardens and then redistribute it to people who need it. The gleaners at BMAC are mostly volunteers, although some staff do it on occasion. They often pick the produce themselves and haul it to the food bank warehouse. The food is then sorted and weighed and packaged and sent to food pantries.
Cooper: That’s really cool. What did you learn about gleaning that you didn’t already know when you started your reporting?
Bengel: I heard the word ‘glean’ in other contexts. We’ve all heard the phrase 'glean information.' I didn’t know that’s really the secondary definition. The primary definition refers to the practice of gathering grains that reapers have left behind. That’s according to Merriam-Webster. So, we have come to use the word metaphorically in everyday language, but it actually, historically, has referred to a specific practice.
Cooper: Yeah, that’s what I thought too when I first saw this story. To glean information, but able to glean some food in response to a bit of a crisis. In that regard, how much of a solution is gleaning? Can it make up the difference for what BMAC lost?
Bengel: Well, that remains to be seen. The gleaning definitely helped last year, even if it didn’t go all the way. As I said, they gathered about 15,000 pounds of produce, which is not nothing considering they lost over 40,000 pounds. But they’re hoping to double that this year, and we’ll see how realistic that is.
Cooper: Was there a moment that you were reporting this story that really stuck with you?
Bengel: Not really a specific moment, but as I was in one gardener's back yard, she was discussing the journey of her garden and her orchard and pests and predators and problems that can arise during gardening. Then also the feeling of triumph when everything goes well and, suddenly, there’s overproduction. I’ve never considered gardening before. I only care for two houseplants.
But I did start to understand why people garden and what it allows them to do for their friends and family, and their communities. They turn into providers. It offers them a direct connection with the land that they care for and the people that they care for.
Cooper: This story is part of InsightsNW, Northwest Public Broadcasting’s program to produce more solutions journalism. What makes this story and other solutions journalism stories unique?
Bengel: We as journalists report on a lot of problems. That’s our job. We’re always looking for the human impact of this or that problem. Whether it’s an old problem or a new problem. But there’s often this lingering question: 'OK, is anyone doing anything about this?' Solutions journalism helps to answer that question.
So, is the next development that we report on going to be yet another problem, and is that the only thing we’re going to be reporting on because it’s news? Which is totally fair. Or, is it the fact that people are trying to do something about the problem? That too can be news. People doing the work to make things better for everyone.
Cooper: Erick, great job, thank you so much for your reporting, and I appreciate your time.
Bengel: Thank you.
This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.
