The Gleaners & I
By: Kevin Piller, Logistics Team Lead
I’ve been at Food Stash for nearly a year now, and within that year, so much has happened. Globally, we’ve been through a lot; with some working on the frontlines during the pandemic, many more unfairly forced out of the work they do, all of us adapting to the always changing reality of life. Throughout these challenging times, some of us have been privileged to take comfort in the time spent at home, with the people we love, doing the things that make us happy. Watching movies like Agnes Varda’s “The Gleaners and I” makes me happy. But this movie also reaffirmed a lot of what I’ve learned in my short time at Food Stash.
Opportunity is a big part of Varda’s movie. I hesitate to use the word opportunism, but is that really a “bad” word? Gleaning is a tradition in many European countries, where the less marketable produce and grain is left on the ground for those who show up and put in the labor to claim it. Many people in the movie are proud to say they come from a family of gleaners, suggesting there’s no shame in food recovery. Some of the gleaners featured are Romani who rely on gleaning to survive the economic disparity created by the severe discrimination they face in France. Others are white, university educated teachers and artists, for whom gleaning is simply part of their daily routine and work.
A powerful connection Varda makes between herself and the folks she’s filming comes from how the movie itself was filmed. Using her hand-held camera made for amateur use, Varda only needed to point and shoot—or in one instance accidentally leave the camera recording to create “The Dance of the Lens Cap.” While other filmmakers scoff at this pedestrian technology, Varda embraces this creative opportunity and is able to make an endearing, enduring movie filled with optimism and joy. So in this context, there’s no reason to consider ‘opportunism’ a dirty 11-letter word! Just like the painting of the gleaners that inspired the movie, there’s a dignity to those who stoop to pick up and use what others might find ugly or less appetizing.
In an elegant way, Varda shows that food security creates beautiful life-changing opportunities. This is as true in Vancouver as it is in France. I recently learned that because of the food we provide, the kitchen at one of our community partners is able to employ peer workers for well above minimum wage. The money they budget for food is freed up by our donations, and a meaningful job is created. I knew that the food we redirected was put to good use, but this was nothing short of a revelation. We need food to survive—that’s non-negotiable—so when that need is fulfilled, more resources can be diverted to other efforts. You might be saying “Duh, Kevin!”, but it’s also non-negotiable that food is valuable. Delivering that value and eliminating food cost is crucial in expanding what our partners can do in the community.
Potato gleaned on farm in France, captured in the film: The Gleaner and I
Potato gleaned from unsold grocery store surplus in Vancouver by Food Stash
Human resilience and adaptability is something to be commended during a global pandemic. I’ve seen every one of our partner charities confront this pandemic head-on and move with this day-to-day dance that challenges the work they do. While I can’t emphasize this challenge enough, it did provide the chance for them to reassess how they operate and reaffirm why they do it. So they all deserve a massive shout-out for both adapting quickly and not once losing sight of their values and goals.
COVID-19 created many opportunities for Food Stash too. We’ve forged new partnerships; some temporary to deal with the sudden glut of potential spoilage in cafes and restaurants, some lasting to this day. We’ve been consistently picking up more food each month since the pandemic was officially announced in March and managing to find new avenues to get food to our community. But that comes at a cost: it’s hard physical labour moving upwards of 75,000 pounds of food in a month. So the drivers at Food Stash who put in that labour and the team that sorts through that food also deserve huge props for what they do—every single day of the week.
We take on these challenges because we’ve committed to the goal of feeding the community with the food surplus we’re given. But out of that hardship comes greater clarity and purpose than what we knew before. So, perhaps it’s a good thing to embrace the gleaner within us all.