Hannaford donates $350,000 to support expansion of gleaning food recovery efforts in New England and New York

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

October 15, 2021

 

Hannaford donates $350,000 to support expansion of gleaning food recovery efforts in New England and New York

 

Donation designed to reduce food waste and fight food insecurity across five-state territory by raising awareness of gleaning and its positive impact on local agriculture and hunger relief

 

Scarborough, ME – Hannaford Supermarkets and the Hannaford Charitable Foundation today announced a $350,000 donation designed to reduce food waste and aid hunger relief by expanding gleaning efforts and raising awareness about the fresh food harvesting process throughout New England and New York. 

 

The donation will support the work of gleaning networks and organizations to harvest and recover excess produce that would otherwise go to waste from local farms and deliver it directly to area food pantries to provide individuals in need with increased access to healthy, fresh and locally

 -grown food. 

 

Operating at the intersection of food insecurity, nutrition and agriculture, the five gleaning networks benefitting from the donation recovered more than 1.9 million pounds of produce from a total of 500 partner farms and served 691 food pantries during the 2020 gleaning season, which runs annually from approximately late June through early November.

 

“Gleaning programs are a critical part of our food system that equally support such important pillars of our industry as agriculture, sustainability and hunger relief,” said Hannaford Supermarkets Director of Operations (location based). “Hannaford is excited to help these organizations enhance their programs, which ensure that nutritious produce that would otherwise go to waste reaches individuals in need while increasing both the amount and variety of fresh, local food available at pantries. We look forward to seeing these programs grow in the years to come as our communities become more familiar with the gleaning process and its important role in the agriculture cycle.”

 

The $350,000 donation will be distributed to gleaning networks in New England and New York as follows:

 

? $100,000 to Vermont Gleaning Collective

Comprised of seven regional gleaning initiatives which work collaboratively as a statewide partnership of autonomous, community-based programs, including Salvation Farms in Morristown, the Vermont Gleaning Collective will use the funding to expand its reach and capacity by making investments in  cold storage, trucks and staff - all of which will increase the Collective’s ability to collect, temporarily store and transport perishable food gleaned from participating farms to food pantries in remote and rural areas of the state. Funds will also be used to build the communication, collaboration and connectivity between the member programs of the Vermont Gleaning Collective.

 

According to the Vermont Gleaning Collective, 87 percent of food recipient sites surveyed reported that receiving gleaned produce increased their understanding of and familiarity with locally-grown, in-season produce; while 86 percent of farms surveyed indicated that the gleaning program helped to reduce their on-farm food loss. 

 

“The members of the Vermont Gleaning Collective are honored to be selected for such a generous contribution. Hannaford’s recognition of the power of gleaning within local communities and its impact on local farms and local food systems is a terrific compliment. While gleaning serves to put valuable resources to good use and provides nutrition to those most in need of nourishment, its impact is magnified when volunteers and food recipients begin investing in the farms they have engaged with through gleaning. Thank you, Hannaford, for this important investment in our agricultural community and local food system,” said Theresa Snow, Salvation Farms’ Founder and Executive Director

 

? $75,000 to Boston Area Gleaners in Massachusetts 

The donation from Hannaford will be used to upgrade a cold storage unit at Stonefield Farm in Acton, Mass., which is the new, permanent home for Boston Area Gleaners. The new site provides Boston Area Gleaners with 20 acres of agricultural land, allow the organization to operate year-round, reduce travel miles to farms by 40 percent, offer cold and dry storage and increase food distribution by an estimated 4.5 million pounds over the next three to five years. The land will also be used to grow culturally appropriate crops for hunger relief and support emerging farmers. Over the last decade, the Boston Area Gleaners have captured and distributed more than 10 million pounds of nutritious food for food-insecure families, working in collaboration with 550 hunger relief agencies, 80 farms and orchards and 2,000 volunteers

 

“Hannaford’s donation comes at a critical time for our organization as we settle into our new home and develop the infrastructure to support our growing operations,” says Executive Director, Usha Thakrar.  “Supporting local agriculture has never been more critical, and we applaud Hannaford for investing in organizations in the region dedicated to supporting farms, reducing waste and most importantly, providing nutritious food to families in need."

 

? $75,000 to Cornell Cooperative Extension in New York

Cornell Cooperative Extension, which is based in New York’s Hudson Valley, will use the funding to purchase new cold storage units, which will help extend the life of gleaned produce and expand the program’s capacity to collect excess produce during the end-of-season harvest, while also supporting the refrigeration needs of partner food pantries. Additionally, the cold storage unit will allow Cornell Cooperative Extension to partner with Food Access Organizations who are packaging and freezing portions of gleaned produce for distribution to individuals in need, thereby increasing access to fresh, healthy food during the winter months.  

 

“Hannaford’s support right now is crucial. It will help increase consistency in the availability of fresh food in our local food access programs. That inconsistency has always been a part of distributing donated food, but the pandemic really highlighted the need for cool and cold storage. Together with Hannaford, we’ll be able to provide healthier options to more people, more often,” said Stiles Najac, Food Security Community Liaison, Cornell Cooperative Extension Orange County.

 

? $60,000 to the UMaine Extension 

The UMaine  Extension will use this funding  to pilot programs designed to increase access to fresh, locally-grown food and vegetables for community members experiencing food insecurity by expanding gleaning to new parts of Maine and increasing the frequency and capacity at existing locations.

 

Since its inception,  Harvest for Hunger, the  Extension’s grassroots effort to encourage gardeners, farmers, businesses, schools, and civic groups to donate high-quality fruits and vegetables to citizens in need, has donated more than 3.1 million pounds of produce to food pantries, soup kitchens, community meals, and individuals across the state.

 

“University of Maine Cooperative Extension is grateful for Hannaford's support of our Maine Harvest for Hunger program, one that connects volunteers, farmers, pantries, and local community partners to meet the needs of others, where they are,” said Dr. Hannah Carter, Dean, UMaine Extension. “This gift will allow us to increase our capacity to find sustainable solutions, research statewide issues of food insecurity and develop local solutions unique to our communities. We thank Hannaford for its generosity and support that enable us to do this important work.”

 

? $40,000 to NH Gleans in New Hampshire

NH Gleans, which coordinates and supports a statewide network of regional gleaning leaders, will use the funding to raise awareness of gleaning in New Hampshire and increase access to fresh, locally grown food and vegetables for food insecure individuals. The organization has experienced an increase in both public interest and gleaning production over the past year, with total number of volunteers and pounds of produce gleaned up approximately 50 percent over 2020. 

 

“This contribution will enable NH Gleans to fulfill its strategic goals of raising awareness, streamlining communications and creating a centralized location for resources and training,” said NH Gleans Director Jess Gerrior. “With a stronger, more coordinated network, we’ll be able to enhance the work of food system organizations throughout the Granite State through partnerships, research and best practices. This work will help create more resilient communities by not only addressing local hunger but promoting local farms and a healthy environment, too.”

 

The donation from Hannaford demonstrates the retailer’s continued commitment as an industry leader to hunger relief and sustainability. In April 2021, Hannaford announced that each of its 184 stores donates or diverts all food at risk of going to waste, sending no food at all to landfills. 

 

Each Hannaford store strictly follows the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Food Recovery Hierarchy, which prioritizes the rescue of surplus product for donation to food insecure individuals – generating millions of meals donated annually. Other key elements of Hannaford’s food waste diversion program include donations to local farmers for animal feed and food-to-energy conversion efforts.

 

Hannaford’s adherence to this process kept 65 million pounds of food waste from reaching landfills in 2020. Hannaford stores donated more than 25 million pounds of food, such as beef and chicken; fruit and vegetables; and pasta and eggs, to local hunger relief organizations in 2020. 

 

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About Hannaford Supermarkets

Hannaford Supermarkets, based in Scarborough, Maine, operates 184 stores in the Northeast. Stores are located in Maine, New York, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Hannaford employs nearly 30,000 associates. Additional information can be found at Hannaford.com.