BMAC Gleaning Program

I'm Lacy Gray with Washington Ag Today.

Laura Engelman has been very busy the last couple of months in her position as the AmeriCorps Vista Gleaning Coordinator for the Blue Mountain Action Council in Walla Walla, and that's a good thing for families in need in the area.

ENGELMAN: This year to date we've gleaned 32,139 pounds. All of that has come in either through gleans or through individual donations.

Engelman talks about the different kinds of crops that BMAC volunteers have been able to glean and what's done with the food after gleaning.

ENGELMAN: We've gleaned sweet onions obviously being in Walla Walla. We just started apples the other day. We've gleaned plums, corn, nectarines, lots of squash and cucumbers, tomatoes, beets - pretty much any crop that you can think of that would grow in this area we've probably gleaned it at some point or another. That food goes back to the Blue Mountain Action Council food warehouse and it gets distributed out to food pantries in the area.

Engelman did an initial outreach to growers in the spring to make sure that farmers and gardeners knew about the program but says that since then it has been more of a case of donors calling her. And for those interested in volunteering as gleaners. . .

ENGELMAN: We are always accepting volunteers and if they want any more information - if people want to follow along we do have a blog - www.communityharvest.tumbler.com.

Engelman says growers interested in donating to the gleaning program should contact the BMAC food warehouse in Walla Walla at 509-529-3561.

Thanks for listening. That's Washington Ag Today.

I'm Lacy Gray on the Ag Information Network.