Food Rescue US

Food Rescue US is committed to reducing food waste and food insecurity in America. Using technology, we engage volunteers to transfer fresh food that would have otherwise been thrown away from local food donors (grocers, restaurants, caterers, conventions, events, sports stadiums, farms, etc.) to social service agencies that feed individuals and families who are food insecure. It is our goal to continue to expand over the next 3-5 years and to create a national network that includes food recovery affiliates in all 50 states.

Through the use of technology, Food Rescue US has developed a simple solution to connect the vast amount of healthy, usable surplus food with the critical hunger demand. Using our simple and efficient proprietary technology, food donors register available fresh food, social service agencies communicate their food needs and details for delivery, and volunteers sign up for a “food rescue.” Once a match is made with a food donation opportunity and a social service agency, a volunteer rescuer self-schedules to pick up the food from the donor (e.g. grocers, restaurants, caterers, farmers’ markets) and delivers it directly to the local social service agency (soup kitchens, shelters, veterans service facilities, etc.) serving the community. By providing food that would otherwise be wasted and delivering it to the food insecure, Food Rescue US is also keeping this wasted food from ending up in landfills where it decomposes, creating methane gas that warms our planet.

Our model is unique because of our proprietary app, large volunteer base, and direct transfer model. These aspects of our model make it adaptable and enable us to rescue small to large amounts of food from an array of food donors, from bakeries to convention centers, including rescuing over 35,000 lbs of food from the 2020 Super Bowl. Our model enables us to connect with local farms and rescue their unused food as well as with businesses removing perishables that don’t meet their high cosmetic standards. Traditional food rescue models primarily rescue boxed and canned foods that are high in carbohydrates because they utilize warehouses and perishables spoil too quickly. Because of our direct-transfer model, we are able to rescue fresh, healthy perishables and premade meals and provide them directly to agencies serving the food insecure, increasing the overall nutritional value of the meals our agency partners can serve.

Since our founding in 2011, Food Rescue US has provided more than 56.8 million high quality meals to people experiencing food insecurity and kept more than 75.1 million pounds of viable food out of landfills. This food has a value of over $124 million. Food Rescue US partners with more than 1,780 food donors, 9,140 volunteers, and 1,250 social service agencies across 39 locations in 25 states and the District of Columbia, and we are constantly growing.

While 2020 has been a challenging year, with food insecurity rising at alarming rates and food waste increasing, Food Rescue US has seen great growth as our team and communities banded together to help meet the increased need. Together, we launched three new emergency initiatives and provided more meals than ever before, providing more than twice as many meals in 2020 than we did in 2019. In 2020 alone, we provided more than 19.2 million meals and kept more than 23.1 pounds of food out of landfills.