SEPTEMBER 2019 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


Volunteers harvest for FV charities


LEPS is one of several programs collecting surplus produce by RONDA PAYNE


source. The program doesn’t just


LANGLEY—More than 10,000 pounds of produce was saved from rotting in fields, composts and landfills last year by the long-running Langley Environmental Partners Society’s community harvest program.


Since its launch in 2006, the


program has gathered produce from local farms and backyard gardens and distributed it to those in need. Gateway of Hope, run by the Salvation Army, is the primary organization that receives produce gathered by approximately 50 LEPS volunteers. Sources Community Resources Society (Sources BC), a White Rock- based social services agency, also receives produce for distribution to food banks. “[Gateway of Hope uses] all


of the produce either fresh or they repurpose it into jams or things for future use,” LEPS agriculture program coordinator Amanda Smith. It also runs a drop-in meal


program and other initiatives to feed those in need. It’s an ideal partnership when farmers find themselves without pickers or markets for their produce. Homeowners with fruit trees they don’t want to pick are another


collect produce from Langley farms and gardens. “We do go as far as


Aldergrove and we will cross over [into Abbotsford] if it’s really close,” notes Smith of the area the program covers. The program doesn’t go too far outside of Langley because, as Smith notes, other BC programs do similar work. Fraser Valley Gleaners in Abbotsford, Lush Valley in Courtenay, Richmond Fruit Recovery Program and North Shore Fruit Tree Project are just a few of the almost 20 similar programs around the province. Approximately 90% of the


produce is tree fruit, including cherries, plums, apples and quince. Ideally, produce should be slightly underripe as it takes a day or two to reach recipients. “We’ve always said we’ll


accept vegetables as well,” notes Smith. “We welcome pretty much anything; we’ll go pick. We’ve gone to farms and picked greens.” Pickers include people of all


ages, from students to seniors and retired individuals. Mothers come with their children. They spend as little as a few hours to full days harvesting.


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Eric Machine, a volunteer with the Langley Environmental Partners Society community harvest program, plucks plums from a tree. The program finds good homes through local charities for fruit and vegetables that might otherwise go to waste. LEPS PHOTO


Volunteer pickers are


offered a third of the harvest to share and take home, a third goes to the farmer or homeowner and a third goes to Gateway of Hope or Sources BC. “If the owner doesn’t want


it, we’ll donate that third to the food bank,” says Smith. “Our volunteers are really great. They will see what has been harvested and sometimes they won’t take any. They understand the point is donating food to


those who need it.” Smith says those who


receive the fresh produce could never afford to purchase it in a grocery store. (Calculations by poverty advocacy groups such as Raise the Rates indicate that recipients of a BC welfare cheque have just $6 a week to spend on groceries.) “That 20 pounds of


cherries. I saw it and thought, ‘man, that’s so valuable,’” says Smith. “We don’t like unused food. It’s always been talked


about what can we do. We don’t want to drive by these farms or homes and see all this food on the ground rotting.” With monthly food bank use in BC increasing more than 30% over the past five years, unused food can fill a need and cut waste. “We have gaps in our


society where people don’t have access to that excess,” explains Smith. “It’s just kind of coordinating that food around to people that need it.”


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