California Story Fund
The Gleaners of Salinas Valley
Regents of the University of California
Santa Cruz
Project Director: Donna Haraway
Salinas Valley gleaners and their stories
The multimedia project will gather stories from the gleaners in Salinas Valley who gather leftover crops to help fight hunger.
Unlike in Europe, where gleaning is considered a right, gleaning in California requires the cooperation of field owners. While illegal gleaning occurs, most of the gleaning in Salinas Valley is done in cooperation with large growers, who also distribute over 10 million pounds of surplus crops to food banks and other programs.
The gleaners come from communities throughout Santa Cruz and Monterey counties. Some work with church groups, some work with labor groups, some are high school students, some are elders, some speak only Spanish.
“We plan to talk to many gleaners to find out about their backgrounds, how they became gleaners, how gleaning has changed their relationship to food, and so forth,” said Project Director Donna Haraway. “The final focus will be on 12 to 15 gleaners whose stories highlight different motivations, different backgrounds and different parts of the community.” Haraway added.
The stories will be available in streaming audio on a project website. They will also edited for broadcast on local public radio stations. In addition, the project will host two public meetings, where the public can hear the stories and talk to the gleaners.
“The gleaners’ stories will shed light on the ways that changing land use, housing and immigration patterns as well as the growth of agribusiness in the area have redistributed poverty, hunger and homelessness as well as wealth and well being,” Haraway said.