BRUNSWICK, Maine — One gleaning program in midcoast Maine takes leftover produce and distributes it, creating thousands of meals for Mainers in need.
The Merrymeeting Gleaners, a program out of the Mid Coast Hunger Prevention Program (MCHPP), gathers leftover produce in farm fields around the midcoast and distributes it to about 20 recipients that made hunger prevention a priority.
"You see it like the moment you start working on a farm, that there needs to be this percentage of overproduction just in order to meet the demands of that farm," MCHPP gleaning coordinator David Baecher said. "You realize the food is there, the need is there, it just can't always be the farm who's doing the labor to meet that need."
The Merrymeeting Gleaners go to several farms year-round and harvest surplus crops, distributing the produce later that day. Volunteers harvest in the morning, then other volunteers pack the produce for distribution.
"It exists on the farms and in high quantities and pretty high quality, too, so the volunteers being willing to go out and do the work and the farmers being willing to do the communication and the logistics," Baecher said.
According to Baecher, last year the group harvested what is equivalent to 50,000 meals: 60,000 pounds.
"There's a need for sure. Pantry visits are going up all the time," Baecher added.
The cost of a meal in Maine averages $3.83, according to Feeding America. And according to the organization, there are nearly 145,000 people facing hunger in Maine, which is equivalent to one in 10 Mainers.
