Feeding San Diego

San Diego's Senior Gleaners Harvest the Overlooked to Help Feed Others

Volunteer group is harvesting thousands of pounds of fruit that would otherwise be wasted

NBC Universal, Inc.

A large green tree in the far corner of the Del Cerro backyard shook vigorously. It sounded like a giant squirrel was setting up shop. It was actually four retirees looking for grapefruit.

“This is called fruit fishing,” Margaret Burton joked.

Burton poked at several grapefruits with a long pole. Several fell and she placed them in a large yellow bucket. Her fellow retirees worked on other parts of the tree.

“We’re willing to do the hard work to feed others,” Burton said.

Burton is the president of Gleaner Seniors of San Diego County. It’s a volunteer group that meets twice a week at a home, ranch or orchard to pick fresh fruit that was either left behind or would otherwise never be eaten. Gleaner Seniors then deliver the fruit to a service organization that bundles the food for people with food insecurities.

Feeding San Diego in Sorrento Valley said 330,000 San Diego County residents do not know where to find their next meal. Inflation has increased food prices more than 11% since January 2022. Making matters worse, emergency food benefits in California have been drastically reduced.

“Right now, it’s a catastrophic hunger crisis,” said Feeding San Diego communications director Carissa Casares. “People who are relying on emergency allotments on their CalFresh EBT grocery cards; they’ve been cut drastically.”

The increased cost of food does not help.

“It’s terrible and it’s getting worse,” Burton added.

Burton and the Senior Gleaners rescued roughly 300 pounds of grapefruit from the Del Cerro backyard Thursday. She said property owners donate their trees and orchards for picking. She said volunteers were able to pick 225,000 pounds of fruit in 2022.

Contact Us