Local Veggies Served Up Daily

Remember those mushy, dark gray things that used to pass for green beans that appeared on your lunch tray once, even twice a week at school? If you do remember such hot lunch veggies, you probably never bothered to eat them, let alone know where they came from. With school days, and therefore school lunches, just around the corner, Island parents are offered the chance to make sure such slop never winds up in front of their own kids.

This is due much in part to a thing called "gleaning." If you don’t know what gleaning is, then you should. Gleaning is the process of harvesting food from Island farms that would not otherwise be harvested (either due to lack of labor or time) and delivering it free to our school cafeterias and other Islanders in need. Every year since 2007, Island Grown Initiative (IGI) has delivered thousands of pounds of fresh produce to the schools for use in school lunches. This means more than that the days of mushy gray beans are gone. It also means that our kids are eating food grown right down the road from where they learn to read. It means our farmers are feeding our children. It may even mean that our kids will eat their beans at lunch.

Gleaning is done by a group of volunteers, known as the MV Gleaners Team, who meet every Tuesday in the peach orchard at 9:30 a.m. From there, they travel to fields where the gleaners harvest such delicious veggies as squash, green beans, corn and more. Gleaning happens from August to November. If you are looking for a way to make sure your kids eat healthy lunches, they are always in need of extra picking hands.

According to Nicole Cabot, the Island Grown Schools coordinator for the West Tisbury School, “The MV Gleaning Group has been amazing this summer. We are able to pick food from local farms which would otherwise be plowed under. All the food we glean will be eaten by our children and school community with no cost to us or to our school budget.” Gleaned veggies are eaten all year long. “Jenny Devivo, our amazing lunch server, has been processing and freezing the food all summer,” said Cabot. This means our kids can look forward to having Morning Glory corn (and beans) even in the dark, cold months of winter.

The Island Grown Initiative’s Island Grown School’s program has as part of it’s mission “to raise a new generation of Vineyarders who are connected to local farms and farmers, empowered to make healthy eating choices, informed about the food system, and engaged in growing food for themselves, their families and community.” Gleaning as a family is an important way to achieve this mission. Gleaning as a parent is a great way to make an active difference in the nutrition of all Island kids.

In addition to help harvesting for an hour or two, the MV Gleaners Team is also needs folks who would like to drive around and drop off the produce. To get involved, check the IGI website: www.islandgrown.org. If you are interested in signing up for a glean, making a financial contribution, or being added to the Harvest Alert listserve, please contact Jamie O’Gorman at jamie@islandgrown.org or call 508-687-9603.

“This is the next step to ensuring that our kids eat the healthiest foods,” said Cabot, “so bring your kids and tell your friends and see you at the next glean!”