MADISON — Gleaning, the act of harvesting surplus produce from farms, celebrates the local food economy while increasing access to nutritious food.
The St. Vincent de Paul Society is looking for people interested in building food security and supporting local farms who can donate a couple hours of time at the Hilldale Farmers Market on Saturdays or Wednesdays.
Volunteers pick up recycled boxes and plastic bags from the St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry and bring them to market at 1:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Volunteers then circulate among the stands wearing vests to identify themselves.
Farmers will help fill these boxes lined with plastic bags with vegetables, and then volunteers return the filled boxes to the food pantry. The whole process takes one to two hours.
This is a great family project for the summer. If interested, contact Thomas Parslow at pantrygarden@svdpmadison.org or call 608-577-6685.
There will be an orientation on Saturday, June 5, at 1:30 p.m. at the upper Hilldale market. If you can’t come, the tasks can be described at a later time.