Modern Day Gleaning

     It is now harvest time in P.E.I. Potatoes are the major crop that is harvested at this time. The fields are full of large harvesters and many workers. For several weeks, the radio news casters warn drivers to be careful on the road because over-wide machinery may be on the road. These machines are huge and we have been behind several of them. Also on the road are many trucks carrying large loads of potatoes from the fields to the processing area or plant. So, lots of farm traffic.

     The other day I was in a van with four other people and we were traveling on the same road that had many potato-laden trucks passing by. As we were passing them, we noticed that they were so loaded that many potatoes were falling off the truck onto the road. There were thousands of huge red potatoes scattered across the road. The trucks kept going but we decided to stop and check out the potatoes. The local people in the car were excited because red potatoes are special. So we started to pick out good potatoes that were not cracked and suitable for eating and we ended up with a trunk load of potatoes. Several cars also stopped and filled their reuseable shopping bags with the abandoned potatoes.

The abandoned potatoes which fell off the over-loaded trucks.

These potatoes have been shared with a variety of friends and family.

     We were able to share these potatoes with other people that we know.  We have made a number of dishes using these potatoes and they were delicious.

     This was another experience I would not have had any other place. We were at the right place at the right time. This could be called a modern day gleaning. What is gleaning? Gleaning is the act of collecting leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been commercially harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest. It is a practice described in the Hebrew Bible that became a legally enforced entitlement of the poor. I have heard that in P.E.I., if a field has been harvested but there is still produce in the field, you are allowed to go and pick any food left behind.