GROWING

Society of St. Andrew helps feed those in need

The sun is barely peeking over the ridge, highlighting the Paint Rock Valley, as Melissa Julia rides down the road in her silver 1988 Volvo 240 sedan. She cranks down the manual window and takes a sip of her coffee. A Waylon Jennings song plays as she navigates the narrow country roads with ease and expertise, her vehicle pointed toward a local farm.

Dust kicks up around her as she makes a turn down the long dirt road that opens into a clearing, revealing rows of crops. She steps out of the car to set up the bins, clippers and scales as a group of volunteers begins filtering in.

They have gathered to practice the ancient custom of gleaning.

Julia is the northeast Alabama regional gleaning coordinator for the Society of St. Andrew, a nondenominational, nonprofit organization based in Homewood.

To “glean” means to gather excess crops from a farmer’s field that weren’t initially seen as fit to harvest. Centuries ago, it was a much more common practice, and now it’s beginning to resurface in the area.

By The Numbers

Pounds of produce gleaned and distributed by the Society of St. Andrew: 6,643,667

Whether the harvest is simple or very bountiful, “our policy is there is nothing too small,” Julia says. All donations are accepted and welcomed.

The group of volunteers — typically ranging from five to 15 people — then sets out among the rows, gathering produce left from the initial harvest.

“I try to make it a good experience for our volunteers,” Julia says. She provides water and snacks and does her best to keep the atmosphere light and positive while they work.

National totals from January-May 2023

Source: endhunger.org

Number of events: 1,374

Number of volunteers: 10,795

Servings of fresh food shared: 26,574,668

Putting down her roots

Julia, who is originally from Colorado, found herself working on a farm in Gurley and, after falling in love with the area, made her home in Skyline.

“I just really wanted to put down roots in this commu nity,” she says.

In addition to her role with the Society of St. Andrew, Julia also works at the Graham Farm & Nature Center in Estillfork. Her love of the outdoors helps fuel her desire for both jobs. “I don’t think I could ever have an inside job,” she says.

Her duties range from programming to maintenance, or she may find herself leading an educational hike teaching others about edible wild plants.

Julia became involved with the Society of St. Andrew when she saw an ad in the Alabama Sustainable Agriculture Network newsletter. “I thought it would fit me well because gleaning is something I’ve been exposed to through farm ing,” she says. She oversees the northeast part of the state, reaching from Limestone to Calhoun County.

Realizing agriculture is her passion made her work an easy career choice for Julia. She’s spent time on several farms seasonally throughout the country working with livestock, dairy goats and sheep. Then, one day while working on a vegetable farm in upstate New York, she realized she was doing what she was meant to be doing.

“I realized this is it. Why would I want to go into debt

Organizing crop drops

The Society of St. Andrew helps collect and distribute food in several ways. The biggest food hauls are from crop drops. During a crop drop, a tractor-trailer loaded with heartier, less perishable produce like sweet potatoes or watermelons comes to a designated site, and volunteers organize to unload the food.

That’s where Julia comes in.

“There are a lot of moving parts where organizing the crop drops are concerned,” she says. Most times, she has a couple of weeks’ notice to spread the word to agencies and food banks. On the day of the crop drop, they will come to the location to pick up what is donated, some driving as long as three hours to get the food.

“I’m amazed that folks are willing to drive that far. It’s crazy there is such a need for produce,” she says.

Food is also acquired on smaller scales, like volunteers harvesting on a farm or from local farmers markets. Julia spends a lot of time going to farmers markets in the area to network and make connections with farmers.

At the end of the day’s farmers market, Julia and the volunteers will distribute big tote bags to vendors who can fill them with whatever produce they have left that they would like to donate.

“Many times, they don’t want to pack get something back where they would’ve lost, but they also get to help people. They want their goods to be consumed rather than just go to waste,” she says.

A common goal

Julia says no matter how long she does this job, one of the most fulfilling parts is seeing people from all walks of life come together to achieve a common goal. “I was at a crop drop after I first started, and I met square dancers, retired NASA engineers and all these people who would most likely not cross paths all just working together. I was really moved by the community spirit,” she says.

As gleaning becomes more popular, Julia hopes to continue to recruit volunteers and anyone else interested to help, as the demand for food is high — but the food waste is extreme.

“Did you know enough food to fill a football stadium is wasted daily in the U.S.?” she says.

Any donation is accepted, no matter the size, because one meal can make a huge difference.

their trucks back up, so they choose to donate whatever they didn’t sell,” she says.

The donations are tax deductible, but Julia says it’s about more than that. “They

“Some youth organizations we serve feed daily meals, and a little can go a long way,” she says. n

Take us along!

We’ve enjoyed seeing photos from our readers on their travels with Alabama Living! Please send us a photo of you with a copy of the magazine on your travels to: mytravels@alabamaliving. coop. Be sure to include your name, hometown and electric cooperative, and the location of your photo.We’ll draw a winner for the $25 prize each month. Make sure your photo is clear, in focus and not in shadow.

Alabama Living contributors win national awards

Two contributors to Alabama Living were recognized for their outstanding work during the Cooperative Communicators Association’s (CCA) annual awards ceremony in June.

Dennis Auth won a first place award in illustrations for his artwork, “Alabama A to Z,” for the cover of the January 2023 issue. Auth is best known to readers for his illustrations for “Hardy Jackson’s Alabama.”

Writer Emmett Burnett took two awards, a second place in technical writing for “James Webb telescope: the Alabama connection” which appeared in the April 2022 magazine; and a third place for his personality feature, “Eyes on the sky,” on weatherman James Spann in September 2022.

CCA, an organization of 300 professionals who communicate for cooperatives, is the only communications organization dedicated to serving those associated with member-owned businesses.

Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program continues to grow

Learning outdoors skills – such as rock climbing, camp cooking, shooting sports (including gun safety), fishing, hunting, canoeing, archery and many more – can seem intimidating, especially for women who didn’t grow up exposed to such activities.

Becoming an Outdoors-Woman, or BOW, is a three-day workshop designed to acquaint women 18 and older with the outdoors in a fun, non-threatening environment.

This year’s event will be Oct. 6-8, but registration opens on Aug. 1 for first-time participants and Aug. 7 for returning participants. Slots always fill fairly quickly.

For more information, including cost and registration, visit outdooralabama.com and click on “activities,” then scroll down to Becoming an Outdoors-Woman or call 800-245-2740.

Support Alabama eateries during Restaurant Week

Alabama Restaurant Week, Aug. 18-27, is a way for locals and visitors to show their appreciation for the state’s restaurants and their staffs. This culinary event unites Alabama’s diverse range of cuisine during the two-week celebration.

The week is marketed by the Alabama Tourism Department, which also produces the popular “100 Dishes to Eat in Alabama” listings. The department encourages patrons to dine out and support their local restaurants and offers some other ideas to show their support: buying gift cards, purchasing merchandise, asking small, family-owned places how they can help, and leaving good reviews online and on social media.

Learn more at alabama.travel.