Even in the 21st century, there’s an ancient agricultural practice detailed in both the Old Testament and the Koran that could hold the keys to feeding hungry people and saving the planet at the same time. 

Gleaning, the simple process of gathering surplus produce from farm fields and even residential backyards, puts food on plates and keeps it out of landfills. It seems like the perfect solution to food shortages, and the people who run gleaning programs across the United States are universally agreed on one point: We have plenty of food in this country to feed everybody, if only we can stop wasting it.

“There will always be excess in the fields,” says Shawn Peterson, director of the Association of Gleaning Organizations. “We could do a far better job of managing it.”

How gleaning can help address food insecurity

In 2021, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration identified that over 38 million Americans were food insecure, meaning they did not have an adequate amount of food on a daily basis to meet their basic nutritional needs. At the same time, 21 percent of food ends up in landfills, where that rotting food generates harmful methane gases that accelerate climate change. And as the Covid-19 pandemic fed unemployment in 2020, some 60 million Americans turned to food assistance programs for help, twice as many as in the previous year, but inequitable distribution meant that many communities—particularly in rural areas and among communities of color—still went without.

“There are plenty of fruits and vegetables to go around,” says Nkemdilim Nwosu, director of communications at Food Forward, a Southern California nonprofit that addresses food insecurity and food waste in multiple ways, including gleaning surplus fruit, such as citrus and avocados, from private properties, public parks, and orchards. “The issue is about providing equal access to healthy foods.” 

Gleaning allows organizations like Food Forward to address hunger by focusing on sustainability, building connections between farmers, distributors, and local communities, and directly impacting hungry people in senior centers, veterans’ homes, day care facilities, assisted living, and homeless shelters.

Those connections are invaluable, notes Lisa Ousley, executive director of After The Harvest in Kansas City, Missouri. The nonprofit had already been operating since 2014 when the pandemic hit, primarily focused on working with large commercial growers around the country to get donations of truckloads of already-harvested B-grade fruits and vegetables—millions of pounds of completely edible produce that doesn’t meet USDA standards, such as cucumbers that are more than seven inches long, misshapen bell peppers, or limes that are the wrong shade of green. Gleaning was a much smaller part of their efforts, but it all added up to keeping perfectly good food out of the waste stream and into the hands of those who needed it most. 

But with the onset of Covid-19, Ousley saw a surprising problem as a result of the USDA’s Farmers To Families Food Box program, which was created in the spring of 2020 to address disruptions to the food supply chain by purchasing fresh food directly from producers and delivering it to food banks. “Kansas City was suddenly flooded with free produce,” Ousley says, “but it wasn’t being distributed equitably. That food box program ended up driving our gleaning expansion so that we could focus on our local community and get food to those who desperately needed it.”

Gleaning programs like the one at After The Harvest tend to be volunteer-heavy. People in the community, from retirees to college students, head out to the fields when a farmer has excess produce that needs to be harvested, such as a crop of zucchini that has been pock-marked by a hail storm and can’t be sold at market; in a few hours, those volunteers harvest hundreds of pounds of produce for distribution to food banks and other local agencies. One specialized group of volunteers at After The Harvest is known as the VEG (Vegetable Emergency Gleaning) Squad, responds to farmers on short notice when, for instance, a forecast for a sudden hard frost threatens a tomato crop. The recent acquisition of a refrigerated truck has made it easier for Ousley’s gleaners to get even more produce out into the local community while it’s still fresh—another important step in keeping gleaned fruits and vegetables out of landfills.

In Montgomery County, Maryland, just outside Washington, DC, gleaning is one of many strategies being implemented toward “zero waste” goals, including at Community Food Rescue, where they now have six to eight gleans at local farms each year. Program director Cheryl Kollin says, “Food rescue is not the solution to establishing food security or rectifying the waste stream issue, but it is a great solution to the reality that a farmer’s life is hard. They have to hedge their bets against weather conditions, crop failure, and labor shortages—and, in a good year, they might have more than they can sell.”

If that leftover produce isn’t gleaned, then many farmers simply till it over to fertilize the field for the next planting season. However, there can also be crops, often overlooked, that are valuable to immigrant and indigenous communities and worth gathering, says Kollin. One such crop was recently identified by the nonprofit Red Wiggler Community Farm, which called Kollin to ask for gleaning volunteers to harvest the leaves from sweet potatoes—a prized ingredient in recipes across Asia, Africa, and the South Pacific.

“It’s a very labor-intensive process,” say Kollin, “because you have to separate the leaves from the stems, but harvesting them means that we are providing an ingredient that members of the local community value while keeping that crop out of the landfill at the same time.” 

Gleaning is typically referred to as very reactive, because it is often necessitated by a sudden need to gather produce before it rots. However, more organizations are understanding that being intentional can benefit the populations they serve and reduce food waste at the same time, meaning that some gleaners are getting into farming the land themselves. Boston Area Gleaners, which distributed over eight million pounds of food in 2020 alone, is one such group: they recently purchased farmland in Acton, Massachusetts, allowing them to be more proactive in the planning of their food distribution and how they impact the waste stream.

Paul Franceschi, outreach coordinator for Boston Area Gleaners, is excited about how this venture allows them to provide greater food options beyond typical regional staples to their community. “We have feedback from our partners already in some of the crops they’d like to see more of,” says Franceschi, “including a bigger variety of cultural crops that aren’t always available in the emergency food system. We’re getting set to plant okra and collards in the fields soon, among other crops.”

In an ideal world, everyone would have access to nutritious food and far less of it would be wasted. Gleaning advocates know these are big, complex issues to solve.

The Association of Gleaning Organizations noted in its 2020 annual report that it is estimated by the World Wildlife Fund that 10 billion pounds of produce grown globally is never harvested, while one in seven people is experiencing food insecurity at the same time. That wasted food represents 10 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, almost quadruple that created by the airline industry.

“Hunger is not a production problem,” says director Peterson, “it’s a distribution problem. We have far too much food and a pressing issue of climate change. Gleaning offers a way to empower local communities to use that excess and have a real impact on people and the environment.”

The views expressed in opinion pieces are those of the author(s) and do not represent the policy or position of LIVEKINDLY.

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A new vegan sports bar is opening in Boston, Massachusetts, this spring. PlantPub will open its second location right across from Fenway Park baseball stadium, the 110-year-old home of the Red Sox.

The restaurant is a collaboration between the company’s co-founders, serial entrepreneur Pat McAuley, vegan investor Sebastiano Cossia Castiglioni, and head chef Mary Dumont, in partnership with celebrity vegan chef Mathew Kenney.

Created to make plant-based food more appealing and accessible to everyday sports fans of all kinds, the new PlantPub will serve burgers, Buffalo cauliflower wings, nachos, and pizza. This location will also include beloved New England desserts like Boston cream pie and sundaes.

PlantPub’s new branch is over five times the size of the original location, which launched in Cambridge last year, at 8,000 square feet. It can seat nearly 300 people and Dumont told the Boston Globe that having access to a bigger kitchen means she can create more new menu items, including vegan hot dogs “with all the toppings.”

PlantPub Boston: the largest vegan sports bar in the world

In addition to launching a plant-based take on the iconic “Fenway Frank” hotdog, PlantPub will serve a range of alcoholic and non-alcoholic craft beers and cocktails, all from New England-based brewers and producers.

“We are mimicking all of the flavors that people know and love in a complete plant-based form,” says Dumont. “We have an opportunity to expose so many people to a new way of eating that is becoming more and more mainstream.”

Kenney’s partnership came about as he had already signed a lease on the former Boston BeerWorks building, then decided to collaborate rather than “create a new concept.” He is now also a partner in the Cambridge location, and they plan to expand to other cities in the future.

“I loved what they were doing—the product, the brand… It just seemed like a perfect fit,” says Kenney. “Fenway is ground zero in Boston and we couldn’t think of a better location to showcase the fact that plant-based cuisine can be really crave-able and fulfilling and satisfying.”

The celebrity chef now owns or operates 60 different restaurants worldwide and has authored over a dozen cookbooks. Kenney is known for his pioneering of plant-based cuisine in the mainstream. He debuted a new, sustainable, fully vegan restaurant at Selfridges earlier this year.

McAuley described partnering with Kenney as a “dream,” adding that “he is the leader in the plant-based culinary world… He has blazed a path for everybody else.”

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The world of celebrity investments is becoming more and more commonplace. And headlines about a famous person backing a new Silicon Valley startup seem to make the rounds every week. From professional athletes and actors to models and musicians, A-listers are putting their substantial wealth to good use. 

A growing number of celebs are using their platforms to elevate new startups, entrepreneurs, and causes that they believe in. More and more, they’re investing in a broad range of sustainability-focused startups that are doing good for the planet, including food tech brands, fashion lines, and beauty brands. 

Celebrities using their platforms for good

Take Grammy Award-winning musician Rihanna, for example. The business mogul, who recently achieved billionaire status last year, is using her affluence to fight the climate crisis. Earlier this year, she pledged $15 million through her charitable organization, The Clara Lionel Foundation, to groups that are working to mitigate global warming. She’s also invested in the vegan cookie brand Partake Foods.

Then, there’s Jay-Z. The most prolific celebrity backer, according to the Celebrity Investments Index, the hip-hop artist and entrepreneur has made a number of lucrative investments through his investment firm, Marcy Venture Partners. Jay-Z—whose real name is Shawn Carter—is heavily involved in the plant-based food space. He’s invested in countless vegan brands, including Impossible Foods; Los Angeles-based cashew cheese brand, Misha’s Kind Foods; Swedish oat milk brand, Oatly; and plant-based chicken brand, Simulate.

And one would be remiss not to mention Leonardo DiCaprio, the founding father of sustainable celebrity investments. The Academy Award-winning actor has invested in numerous sustainable startups, including lab-grown diamond company, Diamond Foundry; recycling technology company, Rubicon; and he was an early investor in electric car-maker, Fisker.  

Celebrity investors are also tackling waste

DiCaprio’s organization, the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation—which he founded in 1998 to support sustainable organizations and initiatives—is especially interested in the zero-waste sector. 

According to Terry Tamminen, the foundation’s CEO, figuring out how to finance the transition to a zero-waste future is a major economic opportunity—one that the foundation supports. 

“Investing in converting waste to valuable materials is of interest to investors because of climate change, tremendous pressure on natural ecosystems, better technology for conversion and the need to harvest more materials locally,” Tamminen explained.

Through his VC firm, Jay-Z also invested in British Columbia, Canada-based brand Pela, which makes compostable cell phone cases and phone grip stands.

They’re not the only celebrities backing the zero-waste industry. As environmental awareness increases, so too are investments in this field, helmed by the likes of Beyoncé, Ashton Kutcher, and Zooey Deschanel. Here are other celebrities using their influence to move the needle forward on sustainability.

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Somewhere between the history of enslaved Africans, Indigenous peoples, and agriculture in America lies the intersection of protecting both the planet and the people on it. Despite systemic racism, the ancestors were supernatural, armed with the skills to transform bits of nothing into a way of life. Generations of indigenous and enslaved people turned scraps into seasonings, rations into refreshments, and what some considered weeds into nourishment that fed entire communities. But human-caused impacts on climate are resulting in a rapid decline of our ecosystem and threatening the lives of billions of people around the world. The most recent report from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) confirmed that without immediate and urgent action, food and water insecurity will become prevalent, especially among lower-income populations.

Today we need this magical wisdom more than ever. Climate change continues to weaken and deplete food systems around the world, threatening the most vulnerable communities. Without a just and equitable resolution to the climate crisis, food insecurity will grow and those on the frontlines, most often Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income people, will suffer most. Climate Justice is our superpower—a weapon against both the climate crisis and racism.

How climate change and racism are linked

Tackling the climate crisis, and its consequential food insecurity, requires that we center race in both the discussion and the solutions. The IPCC report directs us to look specifically at Africa, Asia, and Central and South America as regions that will suffer greatly without a response that addresses social inequities and restoration of natural resources. It further specifies that the vulnerability of people to climate change varies by certain factors including, but not limited to, colonialism and marginalization. Talking about the effects of colonialism without talking about race is akin to referring to the Civil War as just a disagreement between states. When the direct metric of race is excluded we fail to directly address the cause of a problem and risk missing groups of people that should rightly benefit from a solution. We cannot do anti-racist work in any arena, including climate change, if the elements of race are disguised, devalued, and ignored.

BIPOC communities have always led climate action

And so, we look back to the original sustainability superheroes. Black, Brown, and Ingenious Americans have a lived experience of survival in the harshest environmental, mental, and physical conditions and are prime to provide innovative ideas that not only reduce food disparity but also anchor climate justice in food systems around the world.

Indigenous environmental advocate Nemonte Nenquimo of the Ecuadorian Waorani tribe has long practiced the protection of lands while highlighting the nourishing and medicinal relationship between people and forest. She stated,

“Our ancestral knowledge as Indigenous peoples has enormous value for the rest of the world,” she says. “But it is under grave threat and quickly disappearing. When this wisdom is lost, humanity becomes weaker, and nature is destroyed even faster.”

A similar relationship exists among the Gullah Geechee people off the coast of the Carolinas. Sitting on the front lines of rising sea levels, floods, and extreme weather events, the island people sustained themselves with the knowledge brought with them from their native countries and respect for nature. And the best climate scientists in the world know this to be true. IPCC Working Group II Co-chair Debra Roberts says, “By bringing together scientific and technological know-how as well as Indigenous and local knowledge, solutions will be more effective. Failure to achieve climate-resilient and sustainable development will result in a suboptimal future for people and nature.”

Anti-racist work will yield climate solutions

Everyone’s work begins with abandoning the stereotypes and dispelling the myths. There is historic intersectionality of climate and environmental issues with equity and social justice issues that can be addressed. Tackling food disparity is a good place to start. These are not two separate issues but instead, two ends of a knot tangled by a history of systemic oppression and racism that overlaps food security and climate. Compassion and action for the planet cannot exist without compassion and action for all the people on it, especially the underserved and marginalized. And so perhaps the biggest myth of all to unpack and deconstruct is tied to the historic love-hate relationship between Black Americans and agriculture.

Dispelling myths about race, food, and environmentalism

In the Black community, eating greens and vegetables has always been part of the staple diet. In 2016 the Pew Research Center found that Black Americans are more likely to identify as vegetarian or vegan compared to all other Americans. A third of Black Americans are cutting back on their meat intake versus one-fifth of white Americans. And while the United States remains at the top of meat-consuming nations in the world, among the Black American populace who are reducing their meat intake, the reasons most listed are to “improve health” and “the environment.” In 2020, Vegan enthusiast and Tiktok sensation Tabitha Brown, completely revised her role to become an overwhelmingly successful social media influencer with bacon-flavored carrots. Something about the soothing way she sprinkled garlic powder on carrots with such love that it just sounded like an incantation of the ancestors saying, “thank you for remembering the old ways…we are pleased.”

Marketing teams took note and now even Kentucky Fried Chicken has a plant-based chicken option. Still, mainstream veganism, similar to mainstream environmentalism, is largely considered as being founded, maintained, and grown by white people. In fact, Black experts with lived experience can be a trusted voice to other Black people when it comes to a food lifestyle that is not only germane to Black history, culture, and future existence but is also central to understanding the climate crisis. So often, these voices are excluded and even disenfranchised from participating in the conversation. In 2014, the vegan food site, Thug Kitchen, faced well-founded accusations of cultural overstep. At face value, it appeared to be a Black American vegan space, full of Black American vernacular, ideas, and community. In reality, it was run by a white couple that used Black American terminology to gain an audience. Real and authentic Black vegan food experts described the debacle as a cultural food appropriation. As one expert put it, people rarely go to the second page of the Google search.

Communities of color are disenfranchised from sustainability

If you peek through the lens of the American period of enslavement, one can begin to understand why it’s difficult for Black Americans to embody the words, “Eat more vegetables because it’s good for the planet.” It ignores our existing cultural affiliation with plant-based living and does not account for post-Civil War systemic barriers that prevented us from doing the very things we were told are good for the environment and our bodies. Most stinging is the self-inflicted victimization it presents to us, assuming that the economic and environmental position with which we find ourselves is of our own doing. How can I plant a garden in the backyard when years of systemic racist housing policies have prevented me from owning the property where the yard sits? If I am able to plant a garden, how do I keep it watered when the water source isn’t fit to drink? Mapping Inequality—a collaborative effort of the University of Richmond, Virginia Tech, The University of Maryland, and John Hopkins University–outlines a clear picture of the communities subject to discrimination yet fall victim to the growing effects of climate change.  It is victim-blaming at its worst, accusing and chastising the abused for not having sense enough to do something so obviously good for all of humanity when in fact, we’ve been well aware of the benefits but have been blocked from access to do the work. Our superpowers are ignored. The ability to bring solutions and justice is cast aside due to the construct of race and the inherent oppression it creates.

The feeling not only breed resentment but also creates yet another barrier to overcome if we are to tackle the looming climate crisis. “We” did not all poison the planet equally so why are “we” being told that “we” must change our lifestyle to accommodate something we had little part in screwing up? The very reason we’re eating what we eat is born from the traumas of slavery and the plain “old school” magic our ancestors were able to accomplish with what was given to us and the cultural accommodations made to adjust to what we had. It becomes very difficult for a person of color to resonate with white, mainstream, environmentally moved, vegan supporters of “cruelty-free” eating for the sake of the planet in the future, when at times, these same people do not exhibit the same sense of compassion for the hunger, suffering, and cruelty of minority people by the police in the here and now.  Understanding these racial-based dynamics are crucial to deploying and empowering minority communities to recover just solutions that work.

Climate justice is a global effort

Broadly adapted from the chapter entitled, “The Cultural Appropriation of Collard Greens” in Heather Toney’s forthcoming book, Before the Street Lights Come On: Black America’s Call for Climate Solutions, forthcoming from BroadLeaf Publishing April, 2023

The views expressed in opinion pieces are those of the author(s) and do not represent the policy or position of LIVEKINDLY.

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A new bill aims to prohibit the keeping of wild animals in captivity in Canada.

Senator Marty Klyne reintroduced Bill S-241, also known as the Jane Goodall Act, in the Senate on March 22. If passed, the bill would ban new captivity of a number of wild animals—including bears, wolves, and big cats. This would effectively end the use of exotic animals in roadside zoos, giving wild animals some legal protections in a court of law. It would also phase out elephant captivity throughout the country.

The proposed bill—which is supported by anthropologist and conservationist Jane Goodall—was originally introduced by Senator Murray Sinclair back in 2020. However, the bill died after Sinclair retired from the Senate in 2021.

“Today is an important day for animals. So many of them are in desperate need of our help and the Jane Goodall Act establishes protection and support for animals under human care,” Goodall said. 

“It is a monumental step forward for animals, people, and the environment,” she added. “I am honoured to lend my name to this world-leading legislation that is supported by a wonderful coalition of government, conservationists, animal welfare groups and accredited zoos.”

Canadian bill tackles the issue of animals in captivity

The new bill would impact wildlife attractions across Canada, estimated to number between 100 and 150. 

Removed from their natural habitats, captive wild animals often suffer physical and emotional issues as a result. Insufficient or unnatural diets and lack of adequate physical activity can cause the animals severe distress and zoochosis, symptoms of which include pacing, head-bobbing, or excessive licking.

If passed, the proposed bill would act as an extension to Canada’s Bill S-203, which was passed in 2019. Spearheaded by Senator Sinclair, the “Free Willy” bill phased out the use of cetaceans like whales and dolphins in captivity.

A number of zoos—which would be exempt from the captivity ban—support Bill S-241, including the Granby Zoo, the Calgary Zoo, and the Toronto Zoo. The former, a zoo in Quebec, has announced its intention to phase out its captive elephants over the next few years.

“Given the fact we have to agree that the elephant standards are getting more and more tough to keep them in zoological institutions, and given the fact the bill is coming and we supported it, we have decided as a group in Granby to transition out,” said the zoo’s CEO, Paul Gosselin.

Since the bill bans elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn imports, Goodall said the bill would help put a stop to illegal wildlife trafficking. It would also create a new distinction for accredited “animal care organizations,” such as aquariums, zoos, and sanctuaries, which would be able to continue caring for wild animals. All other organizations would have to apply for a permit in order to breed wild animals or acquire new ones.

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