Key Impact Points:
- 5 Billion Pounds of Food: Feeding America’s Food Rescue Challenge aims to secure 5 billion pounds of food annually, addressing heightened food insecurity.
- $50M Annual Fund: The new Food Rescue Fund seeks to raise $50M each year to bolster partnerships and expand food rescue efforts.
- Collaborative Effort: Partnerships with retailers, farmers, and food manufacturers are essential to this initiative, ensuring no good food goes to waste.
Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization, has launched an ambitious Food Rescue Challenge to secure 5 billion pounds of rescued food annually, an increase of 1 billion pounds from current efforts. This initiative addresses the urgent need for food in the U.S., where 44 million people, including over 13 million children, face food insecurity.
Doubling Down on Food Rescue
Claire Babineaux-Fontenot, CEO of Feeding America, emphasized the need for action: “It’s time to double down. We find it wholly unacceptable that in a nation that wastes increasing amounts of fresh, nutritious food, people are experiencing food insecurity at near-record rates. Food rescue does not need to be one of these things outside our control.”
Establishing the Food Rescue Fund
To support this challenge, Feeding America has established a new Food Rescue Fund with a goal of raising $50 million annually. This fund aims to scale partnerships with food manufacturers, retailers, farmers, and other strategic partners, enhancing the organization’s capacity to rescue food. The funds will support key areas such as increasing the availability of fresh produce, protein, and dairy; expanding MealConnect, a national food-sourcing platform; and subsidizing freight for donated food.
A Call to Action for Collaboration
Erika Thiem, Chief Supply Chain Officer for Feeding America, highlighted the collaborative nature of the initiative: “Today, many organizations have joined the movement to end hunger, and with that comes new opportunities to collaborate. Consider this a call to action to help secure more food, right now, for people facing hunger.”
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The Food Rescue Fund has already received generous lead gifts from General Mills, Starbucks, and Gary and Barbara Rodkin.
Mary Jane Melendez, Chief Sustainability and Global Impact Officer at General Mills, expressed pride in their ongoing support: “No one company or organization can tackle this challenge alone. It takes all of us coming together to create lasting change.”
Kelly Goodejohn, Starbucks Chief Social Impact Officer, echoed this sentiment: “We are proud to expand on our work with Feeding America in this united mission.”
Building on Strong Foundations
Feeding America’s efforts, bolstered by partnerships with industry leaders like Walmart, aim to divert 5 billion pounds of food from landfills, ensuring it reaches those in need through their network of over 200 food banks and 60,000 agency partners.
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