Every fall, Bay Area backyards fill up with more fruit than any one family can eat. Lemons pile up on patios. Persimmons split on the branch. Apples drop and rot in the grass. Meanwhile, families a few streets away are stretching grocery budgets and going without fresh produce.
Tree gleaning closes that gap. Here is how it works, who makes it happen, and what we have rescued so far this year.
This year, our Tree Gleaning Team has picked 812 pounds of fresh fruit that would otherwise have gone to waste and mobilized 11 volunteers from across the Bay Area.
To put 812 pounds in perspective: using Feeding America’s benchmark of about 1.2 pounds of food per meal, that is roughly 676 meals’ worth of fresh fruit delivered to local families. Every pound came from a tree that already existed. No new land, water or fertilizer required.
How It Works: From Branch to Food Bank
Gleaning is simple: we harvest surplus fruit from trees and donate it to food banks serving our community. Here is the path a single lemon takes.
- A homeowner reaches out. A neighbor with more fruit than they can use fills out our Tree Gleaning request form. The service is completely free.
- We schedule a pick. Our team follows up to learn what kind of tree it is, how much fruit is ready and when we can visit.
- Volunteers harvest. A small crew arrives with picking poles, ladders, gloves and bins. We pick only sound, ripe fruit and leave some behind for the homeowner if they want it.
- We sort and weigh. Bruised or damaged fruit goes to compost. Everything else is weighed so we can track exactly how much we rescue.
- We deliver. The same day, the fruit goes to the TCV food bank, where it reaches families within days.
- We log the impact and every pound is added to our running total.
The whole visit usually takes 1-3 hours. For the homeowner, the only job is saying yes.
Why This Matters
Food waste and food insecurity are two sides of the same problem. When fruit rots on the branch, the water, soil nutrients and sunlight that grew it are lost too. When it reaches a family, it becomes nutrition that food banks often struggle to stock: fresh, whole produce.
Gleaning also fits the bigger picture at Climate Roots. We believe health is downstream from nutrient-dense food, and that the best solutions work with the systems nature already built. A backyard tree is one of those systems. Gleaning just makes sure its harvest reaches the people who need it.
Get Involved
Fall is peak season, and there is more fruit out there than our team can pick. Here is how you can help:
- Have a fruit tree? Request a free glean and we will harvest your surplus for a local food bank.
- Want to pick? Sign up to volunteer. No experience needed, and hours count toward service requirements.
- Already volunteered? Submit your hours so we can keep our impact numbers accurate.
- Can’t pick? Donate to help cover ladders, poles, bins and gas for delivery runs.
