Proud to be from Pittsburgh: Corn Glean

PITTSBURGH — Local farmers are making sure their extra crops get from the farm to the kitchen tables of families in need.

“Every farmer should do this because I know every farmer has left over stuff,” said farmer Art King

Art King, his brother and son grow summer's favorite crop, sweet corn, on their 17-acre farm in Butler County.

They’ve already gone through the fields at Harvest Valley Farms in Valencia and taken what they want, but there's still plenty of great produce left.

And it won't go to waste.

On one recent morning, 15 volunteers for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank searched the rows, gleaning the surplus corn.

They picked 4,000 pounds that day alone.

“It's a win-win situation for everybody, you know. I have extra stuff and I'm not going to do anything with it,” said King. “And they have volunteers that are willing to pick it.”

Jeralyn Beach heads the Gleaning Program for the food bank, and told Channel 11's Peggy Finnegan that "produce is a really big part of what the food bank distributes."

They partner with local farmers in 11 counties who have extra produce.

Beach then recruits and trains volunteers to harvest the crops so the fresh food gets to families in need.

“It's really hard to eat a balanced diet and make a complete meal without adding some produce into it,” she said.

Last year, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank distributed 6 million pounds of produce and 500,000 pounds came from local farms.

They count on volunteers like Bob Denehy.

“The food bank program is just a great program, it's huge. I'm always astounded at how many people they serve and how much food they distribute,” he said

Beach said, ““we couldn't to any of it without our wonderful volunteer base.”

Gleaning takes place June through December.

CLICK HERE to learn more information or to volunteer.