The global recession drags on, but Kim Severson of The New York Times reports that "all over the country, the underground fruit economy is growing."From small neighborhood efforts to forage fruit from publicly accessible trees to more elaborate networks like Neighborhood Fruit and Fallen Fruit, volunteers are connecting unwanted or under-harvested fruits with people who would like to pick, eat, and share them. If you have a tree that bears more fruit than your family can eat, you can register your surplus with one of the sharing networks and your bounty won’t go to waste. Too much zucchini? Try VeggieTrader. If you’re an apartment dweller and just don’t grow your own, several groups offer free produce if you’re willing to harvest it.

Not only do fruit foragers get free local food for themselves, they also share with those in need. In Portland, Oregon, Katy Kolker noticed that an older neighbor could no longer pick apples from her trees. After helping to harvest and distribute the fruit and prune the trees, Kolker founded Portland Fruit Tree Project which locates, harvests, and shares fruit that "would otherwise go to waste" with food pantries as well as volunteers.

In Northern New England, Salvation Farms Gleaning Network connects surplus produce with the Vermont Foodbank and its clients. The Cooperative Extension in Vermont, Maine, and New Hampshire as well as food banks in all three states participate in the USDA’s Gleaning Initiative.

Tech savvy people pairing the “waste not want not” wisdom of earlier generations with contemporary tools like websites and social networking to help each other live well in hard times - a delicious idea.