gleaning

Syllable breakdown

Dictionary meaning

the practice of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after the commercial harvest is complete, or recovering surplus food from markets, restaurants, and food businesses that would otherwise be discarded; gleaning has ancient roots documented in the Hebrew Bible's injunction to farmers to leave the corners of their fields unharvested for the poor and the stranger to glean, and was a recognised right of the landless poor in medieval European agricultural systems; contemporary gleaning organisations mobilise volunteers to harvest surplus produce from farms, orchards, and market gardens that cannot be sold commercially due to cosmetic imperfections, overproduction, or logistical constraints, donating the recovered food to food banks and community kitchens; gleaning addresses simultaneously the problems of food waste and food insecurity, and has experienced a significant revival as awareness of food waste has grown