A service that lets home gardeners donate their excess produce to hunger relief organizations has expanded from 23 zip codes in 2019, to 985 zip codes currently. A mobile version of the service, which was introduced last year and helps coordinate transportation of the donated produce, helped propel that expansion.…
Posts published in “Food Rescue”
It’s fair to say that food banks loved the fresh produce they received from the Farmers to Families Food Box program, but they did not like the way it was distributed. As that program comes to a close, the new program set to take its place starting in May hits…
A food bank in Florida is the largest in the state and among the ten largest in the U.S., but was mistakenly omitted from the Food Bank News ranking of the top ten food banks by revenue, published in September. [For our latest information on the scope of the food…
Feeding America has made it easier for food banks in its network to take advantage of its MealConnect platform by making it automatically available in every zip code of the country. Food banks no longer have to sign up to use the service, which connects extra food from restaurants and…
Second Harvest Heartland of Minnesota and others are proving that a food bank does not necessarily need a kitchen to play a major role in distributing thousands of freshly prepared meals. Using Feeding America’s MealConnect platform, Second Harvest Heartland is sourcing large donations of bulk food and guiding it toward…
At least one recipient of USDA grant money to package and deliver boxes of fresh produce to non-profits via the Coronavirus Food Assistance Program should be well known to food banks, especially those along the Northeast corridor. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Cooperative, with a central warehouse in Philadelphia, Pa., announced this…
The lowly cardboard box plays a starring role in the USDA’s plan to purchase $3 billion worth of commodities from the nation’s farmers and pass it along to food banks and other hunger-relief organizations. The Coronavirus Food Assistance Program or CFAP, announced late last week, requires wholesalers and distributors to…
Four days after Super Bowl Sunday, Ellen Bowen, the driving force behind the event’s food rescue efforts, was tired but energized. Over the previous three days, she had directed a team of volunteers to collect about 35,000 pounds of food from the Hard Rock stadium in Miami. Leading up to…
In an odd coincidence, there are about as many people in America who garden (42 million) as are food-insecure (37.2 million). That works out well for AmpleHarvest.org, a website that seeks to match the abundance of produce grown by home gardeners with local food pantries that could use it. So…