GLEANING
Harvesting for free distribution to the needy, or for donation to a nonprofit organization for ultimate distribution to the needy, an agricultural crop that has been donated by the owner.
Gleaning raises legal liability issues, especially with respect to the quality of the food
donated and any harmful effects that may come from donated food. A group of statutes known as Good Samaritan laws are meant to encourage
the donation of food and groceries to nonprofit
charitable agencies by minimizing the number
of legal actions against donors and distributors
of foods.
102 GLEANING
WEST’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN LAW, 2nd EditionPrior to 1990, every state and the District of
Columbia had some form of statutory protec-
tion from liability for charitable food donation
and distribution. These statutes were exceptions
to the COMMON LAW or statutory rule of
STRICT LIABILITY for distributing food or any
other defective product that causes injury. The
statutes vary greatly from jurisdiction to juris-
diction. Some provide liability only for glean-
ers’ or donors’ gross negligence or intentional
acts, while others provide liability for mere
NEGLIGENCE. Others limit liability if the donor
reasonably inspects the donated food at the
time the donor makes the donation and has no
actual or constructive knowledge of any defec-
tive condition.
But the inconsistency of the existing state
laws prompted gleaners and donors who volun-
teer time and resources to help feed hungry peo-
ple to express concern that their charitable work
put themselves at legal risk. In 1996 Congress
passed federal legislation providing uniform
protection to gleaners, citizens, businesses, and
nonprofit organizations that act in GOOD FAITH
to donate, recover, and distribute excess food.
The Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food
Donation Act (the Act), P.L. 104-210 (October 1,
1996), was named in honor of the late congress-
man who supported efforts to expand food
donations to the poor and to protect those who
make donations. It converted the Model Good
Samaritan Food Donation Act to permanent law
and incorporated it into section 22 of the Child
Nutrition Act of 1966 (P.L. 89-642, October 11,
1966). The Child Nutrition Act of 1966 was an
anti-hunger initiative begun during the Presi-
dent LYNDON B. JOHNSON administration as
part of its “War on Poverty” and has been
amended numerous times.
Congress passed the act in late September
1996 and President BILL CLINTON signed the bill
into law on October 1, 1996. The act encourages
citizens to donate food and grocery products to
nonprofit organizations such as homeless shel-
ters, soup kitchens, and churches for distribu-
tion to needy individuals.
The act promotes food recovery by limiting
donors’ liability to cases of gross negligence or
intentional misconduct. In the absence of gross
negligence or intentional misconduct, donors,
gleaners, and nonprofit organizations are not
subject to civil or criminal liability arising from
the nature, age, packaging, or condition of food
that is apparently wholesome. It also establishes
basic nationwide uniform definitions pertaining
to donation and distribution of nutritious foods
and helps to assure that donated foods meet
quality and labeling standards of federal, state,
and local laws and regulations.
The 1996 law encourages and protects glean-
ing by excluding from civil or criminal liability a
person or nonprofit food organization that, in
good faith, donates or distributes donated foods
for food relief. The law does not supersede state
or local health regulations and its protections do
not apply to an injury or death due to gross neg-
lect or intentional misconduct.
As a federal law, the act takes precedence
over individual states’ Good Samaritan laws, but
it may not entirely replace such statutes. The act
creates a uniform minimum level of protection
from liability for donors and gleaners. But state
Good Samaritan laws may still provide protec-
tion for donors and gleaners above and beyond
