Fighting food waste and hunger through food rescue

Imagine a world where everyone has enough to eat, and we make the most of our resources.

The Feeding America network makes this vision a reality by rescuing food. We've saved 4 billion pounds of food from waste. We've helped feed millions of our neighbors experiencing food insecurity. And this is just the start.

A volunteer packing food at Central CA Food Bank

The problem of food waste

Food waste is an urgent global crisis. People and companies throw away billions of pounds of edible food every year. This not only strains our environment but also deepens food insecurity. The statistics are staggering:

29%

of all food goes unsold or uneaten.1

94B

pounds of food go to waste each year.2

114B

meals' worth of food goes to landfills. 1

61%

of waste comes from the food industry.2

How food rescue works

Food rescue is a powerful solution to this complex problem. We can reduce hunger and help the environment. Food rescue sends surplus food from farms, stores, and restaurants to food banks.

Identify

Our team works closely with food donors to intercept food before it goes to landfills.

Pickup

The Feeding America network of food banks and meal programs pick up the donated food.

Sort

Our members carefully inspect the food to make sure it’s fresh and ready to enjoy.

Distribute

The rescued food reaches people experiencing food insecurity.

What is food waste?

Food waste is perfectly good, safe-to-eat food that gets thrown away instead of eaten. It happens at home, in stores, restaurants, and farms. Food gets wasted because of things like:

Ugly or oddly shaped fruits and veggies
Upcoming sell-by or expiration dates (food is often still safe to eat)
Overproduction at farms
Food getting damaged during transport

The environmental impact

Uneaten food that ends up in landfills makes up 8% of global carbon emissions. Producing food uses valuable resources like water, fuel, fertilizer, and packaging that shouldn't be wasted.

At Feeding America, we believe food should always serve its greatest purpose: nourishing communities. By rescuing food before it becomes waste, our network helps feed people and protect the environment.

To expand this important work, we’re partnering with Brightly to develop and sell carbon credits that support more food rescue efforts. We invite you to learn more about our Carbon Offset Credit Program.

Rhonda is part of the food sovereignty program at the the Lake Traverse Reservation

Fuel the fight against food waste!

Join us in our mission to rescue 5 billion pounds of food! Contributions to the Food Rescue Fund help keep good food in our community and out of landfills.

Learn more