The average American tosses 20 pounds of food a month — much of which could be rerouted to a food bank. Meanwhile 1 in 6 people in the United States fights hunger. It’s a bleak situation that needs remedying.
So I was pleased to read a recent Civil Eats article highlighting bright spots in the form of creative organizations finding new ways to turn waste into taste. I hope they inspire you.
Moving Companies That Relocate Your Excess Food
When you move, you usually toss a lot of that food you’ve stocked up in your pantry, right? And you’re too busy moving to even consider taking it to a local food bank. Enter Move for Hunger — a non-profit group that partners with movers around the country to get excess non-perishable food from those who are relocating to people who can use it. The movers donate their time to package the food and take it to a food bank. What a great idea. Today, Move for Hunger partners with 600 movers in 40 states and has helped turn nearly 3 million pounds of potential food waste into meals for the hungry. Next time you’ve got an impending move, find your mover on the Move for Hunger web site.
A Non-Profit That Mobilizes Volunteers to Divert Food Waste
If you work in the San Francisco area and your company ends up with leftover perishable food, don’t throw it out! Call Food Runners, a volunteer organization dedicated to alleviating hunger in San Francisco. A volunteer will pick up your donation and deliver it to an agency that feeds people in need. Each week, these caring people collect more than 15 tons of food from restaurants, caterers, bakeries, hospitals, event planners, corporate cafeterias, and hotels and deliver it to neighborhood food programs that feed the hungry.
A Food Truck That Takes (Not Makes) Food
Another bright spot — this time in Minneapolis/Saint Paul. Beer maker Finnegans created what they call a Reverse Food Truck. It doesn’t sell chow — it accepts food donations that it reroutes to the Emergency Foodshelf Network, a local food bank. Finnegans says: “Think of it as a food drive on wheels.” Brilliant. Interestingly, the company also donates 100% of its profits to its Finnegans Community Fund which is dedicated to ending hunger. This is a company I’d like to work for. (Finnegans beer is available in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.)
Let’s hope these types of endeavors pop up all over the world. Thanks to Tove Danovich for writing about these positive signs in the fight against food waste and hunger.
Image Credit: Finnegans
The large amount of fresh food waste is a lose-lose situation for the environment, the struggling families in today’s tough economy and for the food retailers. There is no single cure, or silver bullet for food waste reduction therefore, we should address the food waste problem in every link in our food supply chain. For example, the excess inventory of fresh perishables close to their expiration on supermarket shelves, combined with the consumer “Last In First Out” shopping behavior, might be the weakest link of the fresh food supply chain.
The new open GS1 DataBar standard enables applications that encourage efficient
consumer shopping by offering him automatic and dynamic purchasing incentives for fresh perishables approaching their expiration dates before they end up in a landfill.
The “End Grocery Waste” App, which is based on the open GS1 DataBar standard,
encourages efficient consumer shopping behavior that maximizes grocery retailer
revenue, makes fresh food affordable for all families and effectively reduces the global carbon footprint.
Rod Averbuch
Chicago, IL
Rod thanks so much for the information. (And sorry for the late response.) I will definitely check out this standard and the app. No matter how hard I try, I still find myself letting food go to waste. Ugghhh!