TODAY'S WORD: glaner (glah-nay) verb
to pick, to gather, to glean
BONJOUR… The United Nations Climate Change Conference is well underway now in Paris. Do you think it is too late to make a difference vis-à-vis global warming?
Reading about our earth's demise has me thinking of a little known French verb — a verb underdog if you like. Meet the humble Glaner ("to glean"). Given the alarming statistics on global warming (some predicting extinction of mankind in the next 100 years) we may finally be motivated to literally pick up the pieces of this mess. Certain French artists highlighted the practice years ago–making the art of gleaning as fashionable as the art of wandering. In other words, it's time to glaner as you flâner! Please read today's story.
ECOUTEZ/LISTEN: Listen to Jean-Marc read the following text: Download MP3 or Wav file
Quand vous ferez la moisson dans votre pays, vous ne moissonnerez pas vos champs jusqu'au bord, et vous ne glanerez pas ce qui pourra rester de votre moisson; vous laisserez tout cela au pauvre et à l'immigré. – Leviticus 23:22
When you harvest the crops of your land, do not harvest the grain along the edges of your fields, and do not pick up what the harvesters drop. Leave it for the poor and the foreigners living among you.
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE…
by Kristin Espinasse
In the dramatic opening scene of her memoir The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls is riding in the back of a New York taxi, wondering whether she has overdressed for the party to which she is headed, when she sees something that knocks the wind right out of her Park Avenue sails.
Out there on the curbside, an older woman wearing rags is rooting through a dumpster. On closer look, the garbage picker is Jeannette's own mother!
As I read the page-turner memoir, I could only imagine how a daughter's heart seized up on seeing her intelligent, artistic, and once athletic mother resort to rooting through the trash. What had brought her to this? And, more curiously, why was the waste picker smiling?
It wasn't until I saw the fascinating documentary, The Gleaners and I (Les glaneurs et la glaneuse), by French filmmaker Agnès Varda, that I began to see this touching scene quite differently, and even to recall a few gleaning episodes of my own. Before writing about those, I will share some of the eloquent descriptions I gathered from viewers' reactions to The Gleaners:
… a wonderful documentary that reminds us of how much we produce and waste in the world and how the disenfranchised (and artistic) make use of that waste to survive… The characters Varda encounters are equally compelling and interestingly are not portrayed as whiny or blameful of others for their situations: they simply state how they live and we are left impressed with their ingenuity. (anonymous)
One of my favorite scenes in the film is when we are introduced to a wizened Chinese man in Paris living at home among a heap of dumpster gleanings. He has taken in a boarder—a happy-go-lucky black man who hunts the day long for discarded food and items that he himself will repair and give away to those less fortunate than himself. "Somebody might need this," the ragpicker says. Evenings, the Chinese man will cook up the dumpster chicken in one of the ovens that his resourceful roommate has brought home. As the men prepare to dine together, seated on crooked chairs and ever amazed by their "fortune", I have to reach over and hit the pause button. Have you ever seen such sweet faces, such sparkling eyes, than on these two lovely men who care for one another and for others?
In another scene, we observe a clean-cut wirey man stooping here and there as he scours the market stalls in Paris at the end of market day. Here and there he pops a broken piece of celery or apple or lettuce into his mouth… "Beta carotene! Vitamin K! I'm a biology major," he explains, adding that though he earns a salary, he still needs to eat and by the way, he's vegetarian! He admits that cheese is a little more difficult to find, but there's plenty of tossed out bread. We later learn that though he holds a scientific diploma, this biologist chooses to sell papers outside the train station. In a touching "who'd have thunk it?" scene, we see the same garbage picker volunteering his time, each evening, to teach refugees English. His carefully illustrated blackboards featuring, among other objects, a handdrawn bike and its phonetic word equivalent, attest as much to his selfless and caring soul as to his professionalism and skill.
There are several other heart-awakening moments in which Agnès Varda steadies her lens on the outcasts who in turn teach us more about the art of living than we will ever glean from the pages of any New York Times bestseller on the subject. The rag-wearing, sometimes toothless characters could write volumes on the subject. Meantime they have more meaningful pursuits: getting by, while managing to smile at life.
As for my own dumpster days—as a priviledged child—I'd root unselfconsciously through the trash bin (one we shared with the neighbor), ever amazed at the ongoing source of riches (in this case–cans of Hamm's beer which could be recycled for cash after stomping the cans flat!). Our neighbor, a single, middle-aged woman, regularly replenished the trash bin with this blatantly underestimated source of income! I began to feel sorry about her loss, which to me related to her pocket book and not her liver health (I had no idea that all those cans equalled addiction).
I regret losing the desire to salvage things (publicly, at least, though the occasional foray through a stranger's trash still happens), but I am grateful to live here in France, where gleaning is alive and well and rooted deeply in the culture! How many times during family outings has an uncle or a cousin or a grandma stooped to pick up a tumbled down apricot or a chestnut, or paused to uproot a lonely asparagus or a bunch of herbs from the edge of a neighbor's yard. "Have you seen what they charge for this at the markets?" my in-laws shake their heads. Soon they'll make up a fresh batch of herbs de provence–more fragrant and delicious than can be found on any supermarket aisle.
When my husband returned from the States after his multi-city wine tour he brought me an unexpected surprise: two charming rush-bottom chairs!
"I found them in the airport parking lot," Jean-Marc explained, "beside the dumpster." I admit, if he had brought those home 15 years ago–as a consolation gift for his two week absence, I might have been hugely disappointed! Nowadays, I don't want the ill-fitting T-shirt that he had quickly rung up at a pricy airport trap shop. (I'd rather have a couple of bars of chocolate, or, in this case, some adorable chairs!)
Each time I look at the chairs, I feel the same kind of affection one feels when looking at some of the characters in Agnès Varda's documentary. They are quirky. They are imperfect. They are charming. They are lovely. And, as one of the men in the film said, "they are needed."
COMMENTS
I would love to read your thoughts on today's post and the subject of gleaning as one idea to freiner or put the breaks on global warming. Click here to comment
- To see a preview of this wonderful film, click here.
- Rent the entire video here or let us know if you found –gleaned it — it somewhere ! Thanks.
Film maker Agnes Varda turns her camera lenses toward modern day gleaners–the poor, the dispossessed, the ecologically aware and the alienated–to paint a new but still somewhat romantic image of those follow along behind the parade of life, picking through its remains. – Jean E. Pouliot
I enjoyed seeing parts of France not normally seen on the screen or by tourists. In fact in some ways this documentary could serve as a kind of travelog so widely does Varda and her camera travel about the French countryside and cities. – Dennis Littrell
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I read your story immediately after having seen and replied to a Facebook post from a friend who had all of his outside Christmas lights stolen last night. His comments shook me as he was suddenly very negative, this from a man who has been posting daily Christmas-related items for two weeks already! For reasons unknown, I thought about the priest in Les Misérable who gave Jean Valjean the silver candle sticks. Perhaps the thief needed the Christmas lights more than my friend and will use them to discover the meaning of Christmas. At least, we can hope.
So sorry for your friend who so innocently shared his joy of the season. I hope his joie de vivre returns!
Excellent, and much needed post. How easily we forget the importance of taking little and giving much. Thank you!
PS.
I would have loved to see a picture of those chairs!!!
Never regret anything you write. You are entitled to an opinion just like everyone else. Unless those who wrote saying global warming is not apparent is a scientist doing research in the field, their words are nothing but an opinion also. My father once told me when we were debating something that “We may not agree on a subject, but I respect your right to your opinion as I expect you will to mine.” Since then, our debates have been enlightening, sometimes educational, and sometimes just having that mutual respect.
Thank you, Joie! And you tickled me with your comment about your local garage sales being like Isle sur la Sorgue only less expensive 🙂
Fred, I can vouch for that wisdom of yours. Your book is among my favorites! Thanks for speaking out on this issue.
Joanne, So enjoying these stories including yours about your grandmothers hooked rugs from mens suits! Just wonderful.
Kristin – Look for a book called “Use Less Stuff” by Robert Lilienfeld & William Rathje. The title says it all. The BBC broadcast two documentaries called “war on Waste” by a UK writer and restaurant owner called Hugh Fearnley Whittingall. In UK about 30% of food in supermarkets is thrown away.
On a personal note, before I put out by black bag containing trash to go to landfill, I weight it. This week was 128g and it is rarely more than 500g.
I hope you will post a photograph of the adorable repurposed chairs soon!
Voila, exactly Cynthia – the last time that I flew over Kilimanjaro I was shocked by the fact that there was virtually no frozen zone left! And I agree with Kristin, this past summer was off the charts.
I did not know that the painting, The Gleaners, was by anyone but Vincent van Gogh. That is the one I saw, somewhere in my life. Now I learn he did his painting, in his style, but as a copy inspired by Millet, the original painter. As to formal and informal recycling of goods, I am all for it! And for removing the huge amount of waste of perfectly good food in our modern way of growing and distributing food. In my area, the Greater Chicago Food Depository tries its best to rectify that problem, of putting food about to be trashed, into the hands of people who will eat it and be glad.
Interesting post. Also interesting to see how the French title needs no “I” to convey the meaning.
In other words, it’s time to glaner as you flâner!
That means, glean as you stroll about. Do I have it? But with no rhyme in English
PS: I live in Lafayette, LA., ..I have a new crop of figs…tree is loaded????i It is December…
Beautiful large figs but no taste whatsoever! Is nature confused?
Me too! S’il te plaît avoir une photo des chaises! 🙂
Loved the post. Ah yes, the things that supermarkets toss into their dumpsters! My parents routinely rummaged the dumpster outside their nearby market and came up with expensive food treasures that had little or nothing wrong with them. I myself for years have liked to buy the over ripe peaches at the farmers markets – ones with blemishes and all – and make peach chutney. Unfortunately, the last time I attempted to do this I was told by the farmer rep that they are no longer allowed to sell blemished of over-ripe fruit. What a shame! No more chutney and wasted fruit that is better than the hard-as-rock ones they sell. Yard sales, alley combing, and donations to local charity stores are terrific. I buy most of my clothes and kitchen items at thrift stores and get better quality at a fraction of the price. How else could I afford two beautiful homes???? There is no shame in using what would otherwise be wasted. Suzanne in Long Beach, California
Actually when I was there in 2001 it wasn’t too bad. My sister and I came home with those cheese pots with the holes in them and 16 old worm holed wooden shoe inserts….from childrens to large footed ones. I have never been one to bring back the obvious from my travels….much more fun.
Oh my! Get your head out of the sand. Try spending a winter in Boston or a summer on the West Coast (whole towns with now water, empty reservoirs, dry rivers and more). Have you heard the weather reports around the world lately? No doubt, there are natural climate trends that affect our weather events, however our so-called “civilized” society is certainly contributing to this problem, so the least we can do is to try our best to ensure that we don’t exacerbate the problem. Wake up, Stan! Suzanne
Thanks, Mike. I will look up the book. And that is remarkable how little trash you create. Bonne continuation!
Suzanne, yes, that is a shame about stores only putting out perfect fruit. The other day I asked for spotted bananas and the green grocer said he didnt have any. As I drove off, it occurred to me he probably did have them… In the back dumpster. I would have paid for them! There is a movement, however, called Ugly Fruits and Vegetables, and it is doing a good job to bring awareness that ugly produce is good to eat! Also, I think it is now against the law for grocery stores in France to toss bleach over the produce theyve tossed in the dumpster. Now those who are hungry can–safely–salvage some food.
A friend and I time our morning walks so we get to “review” what people have put out as “trash” for the city crew to pick up. We have found some true treasures, and some things that we took home to enjoy for awhile, then put out for someone else to enjoy. AND, we get exercise as we do it!
Kristi; I just loved today’s story and the word gleaning will become part of my vocabulary; what a great word! When we were in Avignon in October I saw a very well dressed young woman gleaning in a dumpster; filling her shopping bag; I watched her and was fascinated and wished I could see what treasures she had found!
Susan, sounds like fun!
Thank you Kristin for this mind-expanding description of work pride, wealth and compassion.
Hi Kristin,
I just finished watching Les Gleaners et La Glaneuse. It gives me something to think about. It’s one thing to pick about trash for fun and to find a treasure that someone left behind, but quite another to truly need to pick through trash just to find something to eat. It’s very sad the amount of food that is wasted all around the world.
Kristi, here is a link to a great article in the NY Times: “Short Answers to Hard Questions about Climate Change”:
http://nyti.ms/1XnMRRr
Stan might want to take a look at question #10.
Hi Heather, I look forward to reading it. Thank you!
Food gleaning helps landfills last longer, too, which saves tax dollars. Here’s an amazing story of food rescued: http://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/11/18/456489490/in-just-eat-it-filmmakers-feast-for-6-months-on-discarded-food
Dear Kristin
Thank you. Your article on gleaning has had a very positive effect on me. It has reminded me of the reason we are all here on the planet.
We are here to help each other, to protect what we have for future generations and to enjoy what our parents and ancestors passed down to us.
I always look forward to your intimate, personal and often heartwarming stories and wish you and your husband the utmost success in your endeavours in sustainable viticulture.
Happily the film is available on Amazon Prime, so I’ll be watching it very soon! And I must say that I’ve always been an avid supporter of up-cycling and have been known to wander around my neighbourhood on ‘bulk pick-up’ day to ‘glean’ some very usable and useful items of furniture!
Hold up! Months ago when I lived in Turkey where ‘dumpster diving’ for recycling is common practice due to poverty and necessity, I remember reading an article about my new adoptive country France leading the field by forcing supermarkets to recycle unsold food. Bravo! Let’s give credit where it is due ….
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/22/france-to-force-big-supermarkets-to-give-away-unsold-food-to-charity
Kristin:
If you haven’t seen it. I highly recommend the documentary “Wasteland” by Brazilian artist Vik Muniz. He created portraits from recycled materials of pickers at the largest landfill in Brazil. It’s an amazing film.
Edie from Savannah
Thanks, Edie. I have hurt made a note to watch it.
Cynthia, joie, Judy, Fred- There is a lot more to the climate change issue to consider. While the media, academia and the government are enforcing the climate change orthodoxy with an iron fist censorship that demonizes those who question it with such nasty terms as “deniers,” there are nevertheless some courageous folks who stand up to that with an open minded analysis of the facts. In our beloved France recently, Philippe Verdier, the well known TV weatherman, wrote a book – Climat Investigation – which was politically incorrect because it demonstrated flaws in the conventional climate ideology, for which he was fired. http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/03/europe/france-weatherman-sacked-climate/
The “settled science” argument is argued to be a political fiction, see the Wall Street Journal “The Myth of the Climate Change 97% by Joseph Bast and Roy Spencer, May 26, 2014 http://www.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303480304579578462813553136
Joe Bastardi, a world renowned meteorologist who is famous for his accurate predictions, is a frequent guest on TV and was the forecaster for Accuweather, claims that the data show that the Earth was warmer in the 1930s and is cooler now, and that CO2 does not cause warming to any large degree https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Bastardi
He is predicting a very cold winter for England and northern Europe this year.
For information about recent developments and scientific opinion see the site for International Climate and Environmental Change Assessment Project http://www.icecap.us/
Lord Christopher Moncton in England is a serious critic of the warming theory and has assembled a large body of evidence casting doubt on it – see http://www.lordmoncktonfoundation.com/
Dr. Davis Evans, Ph.D. from Stanford Univ., publishes a site ScienceSpeak with a section on climate that posits that less than 20% of warming since the 1970s was due to carbon dioxide, and that we are about to enter a cooling phase in the next few years. http://sciencespeak.com/climate.html
The NASA data show an increase in the antarctic ice. http://www.express.co.uk/news/nature/617144/Antarctica-not-shrinking-growing-ice-caps-melting.
The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospereic Agency (NOAA) has been manipulating weather data to support climate change theory and is currently under Congessional investigation. http://dailycaller.com/2015/11/17/noaa-spreading-false-news-about-gop-investigation-of-temperature-data/
Rather than engage in a free and open debate, many high level apologists for climate change castigate, even demonize dissenters. It has gone so far as to charge that skeptics should be charged as criminals. That is certainly not the way science should operate (remember Galileo). Especially when the climate alarmists are proposing radical “solutions” that will empower government, enrich governments climate cronies, and push us back into a 19th century lifestyle, we should scrutinize the bases for the dire conclusions.
I offer these comments respectfully to my fellow Francophiles as food for thought. (How do you say that in French?)
Thank you, John!
Stan, please cite your sources so we can all learn about these lies.
Care to cite some sources to back your claim?
I am catching up on old postings and don’t know if anyone will read this comment after all this time. You show your usual good heart in thinking of the gleaners and those who do with less and even live off what others throw away. I was introduced to this while camping out by chance with three hobos in the mountains of California while waiting to catch a freight train that would take me back to Colorado. I had a job to go back to, and it was a shock to meet people who lived outside of the system and relied on free food, found things, the seeming waste of society.
As for climate change, that is something that anyone so intimately concerned with wine and grapes and growing things should be greatly concerned about. Sadly, we are being lied to. Not by the scientists but by the people making money off of the status quo–and some of the same people that lied to us for years about the dangers of tobacco. See Naomi Oreskes book, “Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming”. http://tinyurl.com/gmmfqnp
I’m afraid Stan has cited sources from many of these lies. “Lord” Christopher Moncton, for example, is not a lord and blatantly lies about once being a science adviser to Margaret Thatcher. This isn’t a matter of stifling dissent. This is a matter of combating lies that are putting us all in danger!
For better sources, I would recommend:
The Guardian’s climate page: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-change
Climate Denial Crock of the Week, hard-hitting videos with real scientists, easily understood by us non-scientists: http://climatecrocks.com/
Katherine Hayhoe’s web page; she is a climate scientist and an evangelical Christian who clearly makes the moral case for helping our fellow humans by taking action–and is a wonderful explainer of science as well: http://katharinehayhoe.com/wp2016/
Good luck to us all and God bless!
Trump says he’s willing to work with Democrats to enter the Paris agreement again or to negotiate a new agreement that is fair to the United States.