Food Banks/Food Distribution Warehouses
Programs that gather, sort, store and distribute to participating charitable agencies, surplus food products and edible but unmarketable food that has been acquired from growers, grocers and other sources. Also included are the supermarket chains, food manufacturers, wholesalers, restaurant suppliers, agencies that organize food drives, government departments (e.g., the USDA) and other organizations that donate food on a regular basis to food banks and/or directly to food pantries, meal programs, homeless shelters and other human service agencies with food programs.
Food Gleaning Programs
Programs that obtain unharvested fruits and vegetables for use by food banks, brown bag programs and other charitable food distribution programs from farmers who have crops left over following professional harvesting (or whose fields are not profitable to reap), local gardeners, and others who have fresh crops they are unable to use. Depending on local arrangements, eligible individuals and families may be invited along with volunteers to participate in organized picking trips and obtain food for their own table at no cost.
