BDN mentions Maine Harvest for Hunger, quotes Garland in article on gleaning
The Bangor Daily News mentioned the University of Maine Cooperative Extension’s Maine Harvest for Hunger program and quoted Kate Garland, a horticultural professional with UMaine Extension, in an article about gleaning. For the last seven years, volunteer Charlie Boothby has been visiting the Brewer Farmers Market after hours to collect food that otherwise would be composted or fed to livestock to bring it to local food pantries. His gleaning efforts began when Garland was looking for volunteers for an aftermarket gleaning project, which at the time was an offshoot of Maine Harvest for Hunger, the article states. Maine is the seventh most food insecure state in the nation and the most food insecure state in New England, according to 2017 data from the United States Department of Agriculture, the BDN reported. Gleaning can help alleviate this by providing food pantries with more fresh, local food. Garland told the BDN the aftermarket gleaning began in 2011 at the Orono Farmers Market, expanded to the Brewer and Bangor markets in 2012 and 2015, and has collected 74,203 pounds of food so far. The program’s success depends on the consistency of volunteers like Boothby who show up at the markets every Saturday to collect food. Garland said Boothby, who plans to retire soon, has been instrumental in the success of the program and has helped set it up well to grow in the future. “Charlie Boothby deserves a huge spotlight on him for his service. We’re still trying to find volunteers to fill his shoes,” said Garland. Anyone interested in volunteering to help with farmers market gleaning can email Garland, katherine.garland@maine.edu.