Boston Area Gleaners organizes volunteer projects to harvest, sort, and pack surplus food from local farms and grocers for distribution to local food banks, pantries, and meal services. Their goal is to bridge food distribution gaps, improve healthy food access, prevent on-farm food waste, and create new markets for locally grown produce. The Gleaners work outdoors at farms across Eastern MA as well as from their farm-based facility in Acton. Their work continues year-round with a winter focus on packing and delivering.  

Volunteer activities have included:

• Harvesting crops from local farms and orchards

• Sorting/packing food

• Bringing clean used banana boxes from stores to the Gleaners for reuse