May 2024: Catherine Wilkins
Full name: Catherine Wilkins
Pronouns: she/her
Biography: Born and raised in Eugene, doing the urban homesteading/frugal thing before it was trendy. I worked for St. Vinnies then became a stay-at-home parent. I like learning about business, psychology, board games, ballroom dancing, and of course, food preservation. My family is wonderful with my spouse, Paul, two sons, nephew. I love to see all that is accomplished individually and as a team in EAG. Personally, keeping the kids and myself sane is an accomplishment.
Q: If you were a fruit or vegetable, which would you be and why?
A: Bartlett Pear: classic Northwest, sweet, bruises easily
Q: Do you have a favorite food recipe to share with the EAG community?
A: Baked brie with my quince jelly
ABOUT YOUR EAG JOURNEY
Q: When did you join Eugene Area Gleaners (EAG)?
A: 2014?
Q: What inspired you to join EAG?
A: My friend Cyndi told me about it and I had grown up canning. Saving fruit (and money) was apealing… (or a-peeling!)
Q: What volunteer role(s) have you held with EAG?
A: Mostly glean leader (with breaks for newborns), some transportation
Q: Why do you love volunteering with EAG?
A: I love seeing team work to provide for families of all kinds. I’ve met a ton of great people and tried a ton of new foods!
Q: Do you have a favorite gleaning experience, cherished memory, or fun moment?
A: I love returning to sweet donors! I gleaned quince while pregnant with my second son (he was roughly the size of a quince at the time) and donor Tona took a photo of my by the tree. Last year I led the glean there with Simon being two years old and helping to pick! <3 Another favorite memory was the awesome hustle of a large group gleaning over 2,000 lbs of asian pears the evening before the first frost was expected.
Q: What are your words or wisdom or tips on how to be a successful gleaner and EAG volunteer?
A: Gratitude, transparency, and hard work. Be open to trading or brainstorming for working with fellow gleaners.
Q: Anything else you’d like to share with our community?
A: My kids aren’t always excited to glean, but they have had some really good experiences. They love cider pressing. I’m also glad I recruited my mom to join EAG.
April 2024: Sarah Whitney
Full name: Sarah Whitney
Pronouns: she/her
Biography: I am a landscape architect working for the Long Tom Watershed Council, managing the Urban Waters and Wildlife Program. I work with businesses to voluntarily improve water quality and the habitat condition in the Upper Willamette Watershed, and I love this work! I also love rafting down rivers, camping as we go; basket weaving; and making as much of my own food as I can.
Q: If you were a fruit or vegetable, which would you be and why?
A: A blueberry! Plump, juicy, and nutritious.
Q: Do you have a favorite food recipe to share with the EAG community?
A: Grain free granola: 4 cups of your favorite chopped nuts (I like to mix them), a cup of sunflower seeds, 1/2 C of alternative milk of choice, and 1/2 C of sweetener of choice (I like maple syrup). Roast at 170 degrees F. for an hour, stirring every 15 minutes until it is as brown as you like it. Add dried fruit of choice, I like cranberries, and store in an airtight container for a month.
ABOUT YOUR EAG JOURNEY
Q: When did you join Eugene Area Gleaners (EAG)?
A: Time is illusive. Maybe a decade ago?
Q: What inspired you to join EAG?
A: Affordable local foods and food waste reduction!
Q: What volunteer role(s) have you held with EAG?
A: I have stored seeds at my home for a season, tried to connect EAG with UO Zero Waste, and gone on many gleans.
Q: Why do you love volunteering with EAG?
A: This organization fills an important community niche — from farmers who don’t want their imperfect foods to go to waste, to homeowners whose fruit trees produce more than they could ever use.
Q: Do you have a favorite gleaning experience, cherished memory, or fun moment?
A: Picking the most luscious strawberries well past the end of the normal season, when I thought I had no hope of having any berries put up for the year ahead.
Q: What are your words or wisdom or tips on how to be a successful gleaner and EAG volunteer?
A: Tips for summertime gleans: Pack yourself enough water to keep yourself hydrated, wash your hands before driving home, and rinse off a few of your freshly picked goods to nibble on on the way home. Don’t forget a sun hat too!
Q: Anything else you’d like to share with our community?
A: Even if you work full time, there are gleans that will work for you, just keep an eye out! Barring that, become a glean leader and set dates and times that work for you.
March 2024: Kelly Froats
Full name: Kelly Froats
Pronouns: she/her
Biography: I grew up on the Oregon coast where most of my family still lives. I moved to the valley with my two young sons to finish college about 15 years ago. I got my Bachelors in Planning, Policy, and Public Management which I’m currently using to substitute teach and I think middle schoolers are my favorite for structured group teaching. I love kids and am stoked that my partner has two littles so I get to have littles around a lot more often! Both of my sons live far away, one in the military and one in Moscow, Russia and I miss them both very much. I still have produce that I put up with the help from my youngest years ago <3
Q: If you were a fruit or vegetable, which would you be and why?
A: Blackberry, because I’m sweet
Q: Do you have a favorite food recipe to share with the EAG community?
A: I love making smoothies! It’s an awesome way to use up scraps and produce that’s past its prime all while getting in your fruits and sneaking in veggies. A great way to help with the veggie sneaking is to make Kale pucks. Simply stuff as many greens as you can in the blender and add apple cider or whatever juice you have on hand, blend and then freeze in cupcake tins and freeze in gallon ziplocks. Picky eaters don’t even notice 🙂
ABOUT YOUR EAG JOURNEY
Q: When did you join Eugene Area Gleaners (EAG)?
A: 2013
Q: What inspired you to join EAG?
A: Brandy doing a powerpoint presentation at what I think was a propagation fair.
Q: What volunteer role(s) have you held with EAG?
A: Glean Leader
Q: Why do you love volunteering with EAG?
A: I love helping people eat while minimizing waste and finding free local produce!
Q: Do you have a favorite gleaning experience, cherished memory, or fun moment?
A: I loved dragging my two now-grown sons along on gleans, helping them eat better while understanding where their food comes from. Now, I love when we have gleans that allow kids for the same reasons.
Q: What are your words or wisdom or tips on how to be a successful gleaner and EAG volunteer?
A: When you’re divvying up your group’s haul at the end, be mindful of how much you can actually process in the next few days. It helps a lot to have another set of hands. Also try new methods; canning, dehydrating and freezing, lots of these tools are accessible through the gleaners library. Lastly, encourage all your friends and family to join so you can share your bounty while adhering to the rules.
February 2024: Suzanne Reed
ABOUT OUR MEMBER OF THE MONTH
Full name: Suzanne Reed
Pronouns: She/her
Biography: I am the newly hired Curator for the Giustina Gallery at Oregon State University and Event Coordinator for University Events at OSU. I just made the move to Corvallis, but I’ve been living in Eugene and working on campus at the University of Oregon since 2007. Prior to coming to Eugene, I worked for the Washington State Arts Commission and I secured arts funding for the state as a grant writer to the National Education Association (NEA). It was a big amazing job and I loved it. I was told that my boss was retiring and that they wanted to hire me so I needed to go get a master’s degree, so I came to Eugene as a UO graduate student. The economy tanked while I was in school and my very linear plan took numerous turns. My daughter is grown and out on her own, making me an empty nester.
Q: If you were a fruit or vegetable, which would you be and why?
A: I would be a strawberry as it is a fleshy receptacle for the seeds. I learned this recently from a botanist friend and that phrase “fleshy receptacle” is just so great.
Q: Do you have a favorite food recipe to share with the EAG community?
A: Carrot Salad: Take one bunch of carrots and shred finely. In a small mixing bowl, add a tablespoon of stoneground mustard, a tablespoon of your sweetener of choice (honey is a great option), and a tablespoon of lemon juice. Mix well and then toss with the carrots. Add chopped mint (can be subbed for parsley but mint is better). It is delicious and light, great on its own or as a side dish. It isn’t pretentious but it is beautiful and fancy enough for any menu.
ABOUT YOUR EAG JOURNEY
Q: When did you join Eugene Area Gleaners (EAG)?
A: 2014
Q: What inspired you to join EAG?
A: We were a family of three back then and I had just been laid off at my position at the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art at the UO. We were on the edge of food insecurity. EAG filled that gap in a way that was empowering and the model was so obviously sustainable: Everyone wins on every side of the process.
Q: What volunteer role(s) have you held with EAG?
A: I have been a board member and there were some years where I was at all the gleans. These days I’m much more of an advocate. I tell everyone how wonderful EAG is and I actively recruit membership.
Q: Why do you love volunteering with EAG?
A: Brandy. I’ve never met anyone as level-headed and kind.
Q: Do you have a favorite gleaning experience, cherished memory, or fun moment?
A: I love Creswell Blueberry gleans. The amazing fields, the community aspects of gleaning those rows. Conversation flows and it’s just so nice.
Q: What are your words or wisdom or tips on how to be a successful gleaner and EAG volunteer?
A: Bring a sun hat, a water bottle, and designate a pair of shoes that keep the dirt out, but that you don’t mind getting dirty . . . Don’t forget to make friends. And to tell your friends.
Q: Anything else you’d like to share with our community?
A: Did I mention how wonderful Brandy is? ‘Cause it should be repeated!