Gleaning is the collection of leftover crops from farmers' fields after they have been mechanically harvested or on fields where it is not economically profitable to harvest. Often gleaning is practiced by humanitarian groups which distribute the gleaned food to the poor and hungry.
When people glean and distribute food, they put themselves at some legal risk. In the U.S., a law signed in 1996 (The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act) promotes food recovery by limiting the liability of donors to instances of gross negligence or intentional misconduct.
