Clergyman on left pinches vegetables (8)
I believe the answer is:
parsnips
'vegetables' is the definition.
(parsnip is a kind of vegetable)
'clergyman on left pinches' is the wordplay.
'clergyman' becomes 'parson' (parson is a kind of clergyman).
'left' suggests deleting specific letters (some letters have left).
'pinches' becomes 'nips' ('nip' can be a synonym of 'pinch').
'parson' with 'on' taken out is 'pars'.
'pars'+'nips'='PARSNIPS'
(Other definitions for parsnips that I've seen before include "food" , "part of the traditional 27 [DINNER]" , "roots" , "Veg" , "Things growing in garden" .)