The Gleaners

We recently had our first day off here in Canada and decided to volunteer at a local non-profit. If I´ve had your ear in the last year, you probably know I´m sold on dehydrated food, so we thought it was beyond coincidental that a dried food non-profit group is operating year round about ½ mile from our home. Fraser Valley Gleaners is a Christian organization dedicated to providing humanitarian aid to hungry people around the world. In short, they receive produce from many Fraser Valley farmers, where we are now living, which is deemed unfit for the North American retail market. I must say that every piece of produce I saw was as good as most of what I´ve purchased in the grocery store here… and it was all infinitely better than anything I´ve ever purchased in Panama. This food is cleaned, sorted, sliced, and diced before being dried in industrial food dryers. The final product is a dehydrated mix for making soup which is then distributed to the hungry through reputable channels such as missionaries or aid workers. This brilliance is the work of Carl and Elaine Goosen and a multitude of dedicated volunteers, mostly retirees, but also students. In fact, anyone can stop in and work… and that´s what we did. Where would someone find inspiration for such as this? The Bible! “When you harvest your land, don’t harvest right up to the edges of your field or gather the gleanings from the harvest. Don’t strip your vineyard bare or go back and pick up the fallen grapes. Leave them for the poor and the foreigner. When you reap the harvest of your land, don’t reap the corners of your field or gather the gleanings. Leave them for the poor and the foreigners. I am GOD, your God.” There are at least 5 similar operations scattered in the major agricultural valleys of Canada. Interestingly, there are none in the U.S. because what they are doing would be illegal. All dehydrated fruit must go through fully automated processing. I can´t imagine Fraser Valley Gleaners without the people.
The video part is 1 min., but if you like the song, check out Josh Garrels.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6Z5hVQXdmo&rel=0]