I totally agree that an abundance of food should mean an abundance of income for farmers. And there might be some farms that, at the end of the week, have sold absolutely everything they harvested. But I don’t think that’s always, or even usually, the case.

Produce obviously has a shelf life, and a certain window of time when it can be sold. I’ve seen farmers at the end of the market day giving away unsold produce because it was going to go bad before they could sell it anyway. (I’ve luckily been on the receiving end of that too!)

Maybe the problem is simply that the farmer’s market isn’t the most efficient way to sell produce…but then again, CSAs certainly also have leftovers and restaurants and supermarkets throw away tons of unsold produce every day/week. So – gleaning to me is just one extra way to find a place for the abundance – and sometimes overabundance – of the blessings of the earth.

Like donating the leftovers of a CSA, another example of gleaning for those with less easy access to a field. If you don’t pick up your share one week, it can be donated to a food pantry or soup kitchen for immediate use.

I don’t know about the idea of gleaning as a way to take care of the situation of “too much food” tho, for a couple of reasons. A/ farmers are running a business, and they sure as heck aren’t producing squash or tomatoes in February (unless they’re using heated greenhouses or live somewhere warm). So an abundance of food in the fall means (might mean? should mean?) an abundance of income. B/ Even if you take the money out of it, that abundance of fall food should be preserved for the winter and early spring, when you can’t possibly stand to eat one more potato , not one – no! Canned pumpkin, parboiled & frozen squash, onions and other root crops in the root cellar — fall is a time of abundance but if you amertize it out over the entire year — you might just come out even, until next springs first shoots of kale and radishes come up.

Moral of the story: gleaning is a year-round thing — it shouldn’t be something we do because of abundance, or in spite of it. But if it’s not already your minhag, by all means, let the cornucopia of sukkot/thanksgiving/fall harvest inspire you to action!