Statements
Mission
The Society of St. Andrew brings people together to harvest and share healthy food, reduce food waste, and build caring communities by offering nourishment to hungry neighbors.
Background
The Society of St. Andrew (SoSA) is a non-profit with a proven track record. We believe that anyone who is hungry should be fed. Founded in 1979 in Virginia, SoSA expanded into Tennessee through volunteer efforts, and opened an office in 2010.
It is estimated that 40% of the food we grow is wasted. At the same time, there is a problem with hunger in the U.S., with 16% of Tennesseans experiencing food insecurity, even before the pandemic.
SoSA gathers good food that might otherwise go to waste, then donates that food to existing feeding agencies. We're not duplicating the efforts of others, but supporting them.
Field Gleaning: During harvest, millions of tons of produce are left behind in the fields. SoSA coordinates with farmers who donate those leftover crops to feed hungry people. We coordinate and supervise field events where our volunteers harvest the good crops left behind. Volunteers then take this fresh produce directly to local feeding agencies, donating them free of charge. Our staff provides the coordination and supervision among farmers, volunteers, transportation, and feeding agencies.
Produce packing houses: After harvest, fresh produce is sent to a packing facility where it undergoes another grade-out process shipping. Millions of pounds are discarded as not meeting top market grade and is often dumped in landfills. Instead, SoSA intercepts as much of this food as possible and ships truckloads to food banks. The produce is donated, but SoSA pays the packing and freight cost. Each truckload saved is about 40,000 pounds of produce that will result in over 120,000 nutritious servings of food.
Other packing houses: Likewise, other food manufacturers with a glut of product will donate truckloads of food. SoSA coordinates and funds the delivery of this food.
Farmer's Markets: Volunteers go to markets at the end of the day, and farmers donate the produce they've been unable to sell. These nutritious fruits and vegetables are often headed for the dumpster (and then the landfill) because a farmer doesn't want to haul them back to the farm. Instead, SoSA volunteers take them to agencies that feed hungry people. Again, SoSA provides the coordination and supervision among market managers, farmers, volunteers, transportation, and the feeding agencies.
Our good stewardship of food resources is mirrored by stewardship in financial areas with overhead costs averaging just 3-5% over the last few years.
Impact
Society of St. Andrew began the Tennessee Gleaning Network in the Fall of 2010. From 2010 through 2020 we have:
Saved and distributed over 12 million pounds of fresh produce
Engaged over 12 thousand volunteers
Collaborated with over 160 feeding programs
During the current year the Society of St. Andrew's Tennessee Gleaning network plans to:
Grow our statewide gleaning network to provide even more fresh fruits and vegetables to feeding programs of all types across Tennessee
Increase the number of farmer donors
Mobilize volunteers from civic organizations, schools, businesses, and faith communities across the state to glean (harvest) produce
Needs
Because we engage volunteers and keep expenses low, we are able to do this work with $280,000 in Tennessee.
Any donation will help, but...
$5,000 would allow us to place a large load of 40,000 lbs. of produce
$10,000 would help us coordinate 5 farmer's markets, where we receive anywhere from 100-1,000 lbs. per week per market, for about 25 weeks of the year
$20,000 would cover the expense of all of our regional coordinators throughout the state.
And of course we also need volunteers to glean farms and farmer's markets and farmers to donate their produce.
CEO Statement
Tennessee is rich in agriculture and in the volunteer spirit that drive these programs. In a very short time we've provided millions of pounds of fresh produce to those in need in TN. This represents highly nutritious food that was not previously in the food providing system. It therefore represents a strategic increase in both quality and quantity of food provided to those living in poverty in the Tennessee.
Board Chair Statement
The Board of Directors is squarely behind this effort to expand the statewide Gleaning Network in Tennessee. We know that this initiative brings highly nutritious fresh produce to the tables of the hungry in Tennessee. People living in poverty can have access to the fresh fruits and vegetables that are important in any person's diet. Since we have firmly planted our 'roots' in Tennessee this essential food has reached every county in the state.
Service Categories |
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| Primary Category: | Food, Agriculture & Nutrition - Food Programs |
| Secondary Category: | Environment - Land Resources Conservation |
| Tertiary Category: | Human Services - Emergency Assistance (Food, Clothing, Cash) |
Areas Served
The fresh produce saved and distributed in this program will reach those living in poverty in as many counties as possible throughout all of Tennessee.
| TN - Davidson |
| TN |
| TN - Bedford |
| TN - Cannon |
| TN - Cheatham |
| TN - Clay |
| TN - Coffee |
| TN - Cumberland |
| TN - Davidson |
| TN - DeKalb |
| TN - Dickson |
| TN - Fentress |
| TN - Franklin |
| TN - Giles |
| TN - Hickman |
| TN - Houston |
| TN - Humphreys |
| TN - Jackson |
| TN - Lawrence |
| TN - Lewis |
| TN - Lincoln |
| TN - Macon |
| TN - Marshall |
| TN - Maury |
| TN - Montgomery |
| TN - Moore |
| TN - Overton |
| TN - Perry |
| TN - Pickett |
| TN - Putnam |
| TN - Robertson |
| TN - Rutherford |
| TN - Smith |
| TN - Stewart |
| TN - Sumner |
| TN - Trousdale |
| TN - Van Buren |
| TN - Warren |
| TN - Wayne |
| TN - White |
| TN - Williamson |
| TN - Wilson |
| TN |
