Jee Foods

We aim to help solve both hunger and poverty. We saw through our research that not only is hunger a problem in our community, but also poverty. Poverty and hunger seem to go hand and hand, so we decided to not only end hunger, but try to end the long and harsh cycle of poverty and hunger.

Our organization takes food from restaurants and grocers to reprocess and then donate back into the community. This helps to maintain nutritional value while giving the food a longer shelf life. Recycled food is donated back into the community to those who are in poverty and hunger. We also take into account the fact that most people who are hungry are in poverty, so we open our doors to volunteers from the community who are in poverty. They help to reprocess the rescued food and earn food for the hours they work. Volunteers also receive food safety training. Working for JEE Foods not only gives volunteers the food they desperately need, but experience and training that they can take with them to future jobs. This makes them more self-sustainable and helps to end the intertwined cycles of hunger and poverty. Most food banks take donations from corporations or the public, which would have still been used. JEE Foods takes food that would have otherwise been wasted simply because of minor bruising or just past the expiration date. JEE is altering the way that people look at their food waste. Something that may not be up to the normal quality standards, due to expiration date or minor bruising, could still be reprocessed and donated. This not only feeds the hungry, but works to reduce the 40% of food wasted in the United States.

JEE Foods is built of the idea of a three prong approach; Jobs, Education, and Economy. JEE offers career opportunities to those in need (Jobs). JEE also broadens our volunteer’s knowledge by providing on the job food training, valuable skills that can be applied to employments elsewhere, and the chance to obtain a food safety certification (Education). With this, our volunteers earn the experience and resources to become financially independent and self sustaining (Economy). JEE Foods also takes a new approach towards ending poverty and hunger. JEE takes food donations from our partners, that would have otherwise been disposed of, and reprocess the donation into a sustainable and usable product.

Throughout JEE’s history, we have donated approximately 1,100 pounds of food back into our community. This has earned us a lot of recognition. JEE Foods has been honored as first place in the SAGE (Students for the Advancement of Global Entrepreneurship) Nationals. We also received first in the SAGE World competition in Durban, South Africa for meeting the Sustainable Development Goals we were assigned to. JEE Foods has also been asked to speak for the United Nations three times. Through our accomplishments, we have been able to partner with more organizations who share the same goals that we do. The next steps for JEE Foods include developing a mobile grocery store which will allow us to make fresh produce and other foodstuffs available to surrounding communities considered food deserts by the USDA.