As we enter our sixth season at Real Food CT, our gleaning and surplus produce program has reached a pivotal moment. With over 60,000 pounds of fresh, healthy food already donated this season to 21 food pantries across Connecticut, it’s clear that the need, and the opportunity, has never been greater. Food insecurity is increasing, while support for farm-to-pantry infrastructure continues to fall short. We are ready to scale our impact dramatically to expand our gleaning network across the state, and we need your help to do it.
At the heart of this expansion is a simple but powerful idea: community-driven leadership. We’re looking to partner with “Community Harvest Coordinators,” local volunteers who are ready to step up as connectors, organizers, and changemakers. These point people create a statewide network of community-driven gleaning hubs, each led by dedicated local volunteers.
The Community Harvest Coordinator Role
Community Harvest Coordinators are the glue that holds regional gleaning hubs together, helping us build regional volunteer bases, liaise with local and new farms, and be on the ground to lead harvest events. With training and support from our team, they’ll become an integral part of the Real Food CT network, bringing their local knowledge and relationships to the table, and helping us grow in a way that’s rooted, responsive, and resilient. With comprehensive training and ongoing support from our team, Coordinators become the vital connection between surplus produce and families in their own communities.
Here’s how it works
Imagine that we establish a new gleaning partnership with a nonprofit or service organization in Hartford. Real Food CT would provide software, onboarding, and program support. The Community Harvest Coordinator could then activate volunteers in their community, connect with farms in the area, and help coordinate high quality, fresh, produce deliveries to Hartford-area food pantries. For larger harvests, Real Food CT provides refrigerated trucks and logistics support, but the real strength lies in local knowledge and community connections.
Every pound rescued is tracked through GleanWeb, the national standard for gleaning organizations developed by Dick Yates. As proud members of the Association of Gleaning Organizations (AGO), we’re part of a nationwide movement making surplus produce a cornerstone solution to food insecurity.
This is more than a logistics strategy, together we are building a movement that transforms waste into nourishment, honors farmers’ hard work, and strengthens communities while feeding families. Each Community Harvest Coordinator becomes a catalyst for change, turning local resources into regional impact.
This is Your Invitation to Change Everything
If you’re interested in becoming a Community Harvest Coordinator, or might know of farms ready to participate, we want to hear from you! With the right leaders in place, we can reach every corner of our state. The infrastructure exists, the surplus produce is unclaimed, and the need to get it to Connecticut’s families is massive. The only missing piece is you.
