About us
Les Fruits Defendus is Montreal’s volunteer-led urban fruit harvesting collective. The initiative connects local fruit tree owners with volunteer harvesters and helps ensure that this valuable local food resource does not go to waste. After the fruit is harvested, it is divided in three between the tree owner, volunteers, and a beneficiary organization. The collective leads fruit harvests in neighbourhoods in the central part of the city, including the Plateau and Mile End, Rosemont – La Petite Patrie, Parc-Extension, and Villeray.
Les Fruits Defendus aims to:
- reduce food waste
- make good use of local food and increase its accessibility
- facilitate knowledge-sharing about urban fruit harvest
To consult our annual report 2025, click here for the report 2024, here.
In 2023, in collaboration with the Réseau Demain le Québec of the David Suzuki Foundation, the collectif has created the first portrait on urbain gleaning of fruits in Québec. Consult the fact sheet here.
Our values
- In our hearts — Fruit, people, nature, ideas, knowledge, skills.
- In our life — Health, accountability, ecology, sustainability, nature in the city.
- In our actions — Transparency, horizontal, creativity, multilingualism, intergenerational, down-to-earth, resilience.
- In our community — Solidarity, cooperation, encouragement, kindness, sharing, acceptance, inclusion, diversity, openness!
The many roles in the collective
- Tree owners — Do you have a fruit tree or two in your backyard? We can come and pick the fruit for you when it’s ripe! We harvest cherries, Saskatoon berries, plums, peaches, pears, apples, grapes and more. We pick primarily in the Plateau but also in other areas of Montreal. Fill out this form.
- Beneficiary Organizations — We donate many kilos of fruit each season to local food banks and community organizations. The fruit is either fresh or transformed into delicious jams, sauces, or other preserved items. Contact us.
- Pick-leaders and Harvesters — Do you have a few spare hours to share the shade of a fruit tree with another volunteer, picking fruit? Each season, hundreds of Montrealers join us for picks, and volunteers help organize picks and events, present at urban agriculture events and more. Harvesters & helpers are also part of a collective that gathers for social and educational events. Visit this calendar to sign-up to harvest as a volunteer helper.
- Core members — Each season, about 5-10 members meet regularly to keep the collective thriving. We love fruit! Our decisions are consensus-based and driven by the collective’s values. Core members are recruited yearly before the season begins, but we’re always interested in hearing from enthusiastic people who want to help out anytime or be a candidate for next year’s core membership. Contact us.