Food Rescues: What Do They Do? How Do You Get Involved?

According to Feeding America, some 92 billion pounds of food go into landfills—that’s enough to feed folks with 145 billion meals. According to ReFED, 38% of all food goes unsold or uneaten. That equals a lot of food waste when many individuals are food insecure. This gave rise to an organization dedicated to reclaiming food that would otherwise go unused and redistributing it to those most in need.

I first heard of a food rescue when I saw a Facebook post from a group that was local to me, ICT Food Rescue. What is a food rescue, what does it do, and how can you help? I learned by taking my troop of Girl Scouts to an upcycle kitchen to get a tour. You’ll learn more by reading this post.

What Is a Food Rescue?

A food rescue recovers usable, fresh, surplus food that would otherwise become trash. They gather it from restaurants, farms, stores, catering companies, and even some gardeners with a surplus. This keeps food out of landfills, where it can off-gas toxic emissions, and it feeds those who are food insecure. Most food rescues rely on volunteers to pick the food up, bring it back to a collection point, and redistribute it from there.

How Does Food Get Redistributed?

The EPA has released a food recovery hierarchy pyramid. At the top of the pyramid is source reduction – this means that we’re trying to reduce the amount of food that needs to be recovered in the first place. By doing that, we’re reducing the amount of food going into the landfill by a decent amount.

The second level is feeding hungry people. Much of the food recovered by food rescue or food recovery organizations goes back out to social service organizations to be redisistributed to the people they serve.

If food is inedible for humans, but still good, it can be used to feed animals. Food scraps help save farmers, zoos, and companies that make animal food money. It often is cheaper to reuse food in this manner than it is to send food to the landfill.

If food is inedible for animals, then it’s time to see what kinds of industrial uses can come from reusing it. Certain oils can be reclaimed and reused for energy needs. Food no longer fit for human or animal consumption can also be used in composting to create nutrient-rich soil and fertilizer.

The very last place we want things to wind up is the landfill. By following the pyramid, food rescues can help prevent that from happening.

How Do Food Rescues Work?

Food rescues connect with both places where food surplus is likely to occur and social service agencies where food is redistributed to those who are food insecure or those at risk of being food insecure. Sometimes, the food is already prepared and ready for redistribution, so the rescuer will simply transport it to the assigned destination – a nursing home or a preschool perhaps. Rescues with kitchens may take that food and then turn it into something else – an excess in roasting chickens, carrots, celery, and potatoes for example makes for some chicken soup. The food rescue near us does both – redistribution and “upcycling” food for redistribution. Food rescues rely on volunteers to rescue the food and to deliver food as needed.

How Do You Get Involved with Food Rescue?

You can get involved with a food rescue either as a food donor if you own a food establishment, farm, or even have a garden where you might have surplus. You could alternatively get involved with food rescue as a rescuer – you sign up (often online) to rescue food and transport it either back to the rescue or to its designated recipient.

Here are some of the ways you can find food rescues to get invovled with near you:

Food Rescue US has partner organizations in 22 states. ICT Food Rescue is one of them, but they also have groups in New York, Idaho, Utah, Minnesota and more. Check here to see if there is an affiliated rescue near you, and sign up.

Feeding America is an organization dedicated to feeding hungry people. They often provide food pantries with funding and they link those with donations to places to donate.

Food Rescue Locator has nationwide food rescues listed. Many of the organizations are also food banks, so there are multiple ways to get invovled with organizations providing food rescue or food insecurity services.

Food Recovery Hero has 17 partner locations across the United States. They also host an annual food rescue conference focusing on this important activity.

ReFED is overall an organization that provides education about food recovery and sustainable food systems. You can get involved with them by donating, joining their food waste action network, joining their solution provider directory, using their resources for further education of yourself and others, and even joining their team.

Food waste is an important issue, and it’s great to see so many organizations working to solve this problem while also solving other problems including food insecurity and a need for biofeuls.