The Global FoodBanking Network

The Global FoodBanking Network (GFN) envisions a world where people facing hunger can reliably access nutritious meals through food banking, one of the most promising, community-based solutions to hunger. Food banks source food from all segments of the supply chain and then deliver it to an established network of community agencies serving vulnerable populations, thus providing budget-relieving food support at a fraction of the cost while simultaneously mitigating environmental degradation. The results are more hungry people are fed, less food is wasted, and more charitable dollars are spent on addressing the root causes of hunger instead of purchasing food at retail costs.

GFN’s goals:
- Increase the number of people served, especially the most vulnerable
- Increase the pounds of food and grocery product distributed
- Increase the number of agencies served
- Grow the GFN network by increasing the number of food bank members

GFN provides food banks with the resources and know-how needed to better serve those facing hunger. Training and knowledge-sharing opportunities are delivered through a variety of ways including the Food Bank Leadership Institute, GFN’s e-Learning platform, and leadership development/ orientation.

GFN certifies food banks to assure that every food bank follows established legal, financial, and operational protocols. Many global partners view GFN certification as a third-party seal of approval validating the food bank’s operations. This can result in stronger support from global partners, leading to more food, funds, volunteers, and other resources critical to a food bank’s growth and effectiveness.

GFN accelerates the impact of its network food banks by offering capacity-building programs – such as strategic grants, customized technical assistance, global partner engagement, fellowship exchanges, and child hunger initiatives – to enhance efficiency, scalability and food distribution.

GFN currently serves food banks in more than 40 countries. In 2020, 949 food banks in the GFN system distributed 882M kilograms of food to over 59,000 agencies serving approximately 40 million people. GFN is fortunate to have on staff technical experts who have spent their careers developing and refining the food banking model.

GFN is the only truly global organization uniting food banks worldwide. Additionally, GFN works with multinational organizations in the public and private sector and acts as a convener for food banks, related industry experts, and the international development community.

In line with its growing programmatic offerings and impact, GFN is a recognized thought leader in the sphere of hunger relief and food waste. GFN raises awareness on the global stage about the efficacy of the food bank model and how the global movement of food banking is contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals.

GFN currently serves food banks in more than 40 countries. In 2019, 949 food banks in the GFN system distributed 1.9 billion pounds of food to over 56,000 agencies serving 16.9 million people.

GFN’s intensive technical assistance in areas such as food sourcing, inventory control, agency management, food safety, and organizational governance, has enabled food banks to establish and refine operational protocols, thus resulting in more effective food banks that are poised to grow.

In addition to technical assistance, GFN’s growing capacity-building grant program provides time-bound investments to enable capacity expansions that are then supported on an ongoing basis by resources procured in the food bank’s local community. Grants are leveraged by GFN members in many ways including expanding food sourcing strategies, building out cold chain capacity to increase distribution of fruits, vegetables, protein, and dairy, and designing programming that serves vulnerable populations such as children.