As part of National Food Waste Prevention Week, the City of Orlando’s Sustainability and Resilience team and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services joined volunteers from local nonprofits to deliver gleaned crops collected that day from local farms to those in need.

Gleaning is collecting excess fresh foods from farms, gardens, farmers markets, grocers or any other sources after the areas have been commercially harvested in the field or there was a large amount of leftover produce. The gleaning in Orlando helped remove about 5,000 pounds of leftover crops, including cabbage and sweet corn, to be delivered to One Heart for Women and Children and Feed the Need by 4Roots.

Since 2020, the City has harvested thousands of pounds of food as part of Orlando’s Food Rescue Program. More than 43,500 pounds of food have been gleaned, and a total of 156,500 pounds have been donated to help reduce food insecurity and hunger in Central Florida.