Celebrating a remarkable season of community-driven climate action.
What if one practical way to reduce food waste and strengthen local food security was already growing on private property in your community?
That is the potential and the promise of Hidden Harvest, EnviroCentre’s Ottawa-based urban fruit gleaning program. We reduce food waste before it occurs by engaging community volunteers to harvest edible fruit from private property and redistribute it locally.
We train and equip volunteers, connect them with local tree owners, and support food agencies through donations of fresh, seasonal produce. This end-to-end approach shows how underused community resources can be put to practical use.
In Ottawa, the program continues to grow. Below is a look at the results Hidden Harvest achieved in 2025, and how we are planning for 2026.
Objective
Hidden Harvest is built on a simple approach: the program connects community volunteers with local tree owners to harvest edible fruit before it becomes waste. The harvested fruit is then shared among volunteers, tree owners, and local food agencies.
Delivering this work consistently across a municipality requires clear coordination, training, and systems.
EnviroCentre delivers Hidden Harvest as an end-to-end program that includes:
- Volunteer development, from recruitment through training
- Standardized safety training, procedures, and resources
- Well-organized harvest events that prioritize safety and community connection
- An equitable food distribution model that shares harvested fruit among food organizations, volunteers, and tree owners
- Tools to support community outreach, data collection, reporting, and event coordination
- Ongoing support from our experienced team
Program impact in 2025
Thanks to the commitment of volunteers and tree owners, EnviroCentre delivered the highest number of citywide harvests to date in 2025: 109 community-led gleaning events at private homes across Ottawa, from spring through fall.
This record number of harvest events had a meaningful local impact, rescuing thousands of pounds of edible fruit. The program supported community food agencies with fresh produce while also helping to reduce pressure on the city’s waste management system.
Below are key program outcomes from 2025 that contribute to local resilience:
Amount of fruit rescued: 11,037 lbs
Amount of fruit donated to local food organizations: 6,887 lbs
CO₂e emissions averted: 4,004 kg
Volunteer and community engagement
Resident engagement continues to be a core benefit of the Hidden Harvest program. The network of volunteer harvesters—one of the program’s essential components—expanded again in 2025.
The number of Neighbourhood Leaders grew to 38, a 36% increase from 2024. Neighbourhood Leaders play a central role in program delivery, organizing harvest events, coordinating with tree owners, and managing volunteers on site. Overall community participation also increased across the program in 2025.
What’s next
As we look ahead, the focus is on building on Hidden Harvest’s current momentum while strengthening the systems that support program delivery.
Help expand Hidden Harvest events! Financial support allows us to deliver more Hidden Harvest events, engage additional volunteers, and increase donations of fresh fruit to local food organizations.
Bring Hidden Harvest to your community! Hidden Harvest is a proven, turnkey program that helps communities reduce food waste by harvesting surplus urban fruit and redistributing it locally.
To support Hidden Harvest, contact our team.