Food Forward Inc.

Food Forward began around the fundamental idea of sharing abundance. With 13 years of food recovery experience, Food Forward has rescued over 225 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables that would have otherwise gone to waste and connected this bounty with Southern Californians experiencing hunger. Food Forward rescues produce from backyard fruit trees, orchards, farms, farmers markets, and wholesale produce vendors, preventing this nutritious food from going to waste. Fresh fruits and vegetables are donated to 340+ hunger relief agencies who serve families and individuals experiencing food insecurity in Los Angeles and seven surrounding counties.

The COVID-19 pandemic pushed Food Forward to increase the amount of produce distributed to our agency partners and their communities. We have successfully placed historic levels of produce in the hands of organizations on the frontlines of community support as their beneficiaries face the economic and health ramifications of the ongoing pandemic. In 2022, Food Forward will rescue 60-70 million pounds of fresh produce from needless waste, maintaining historic levels of produce recovery and refining operations to better serve hunger relief organizations at scale into the future.

Food Forward focuses its efforts on three primary produce recovery programs:

Backyard Harvest - Recovers produce from 800 fruit tree properties in Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties.
Farmers Market Recovery - Recovers produce from 14 farmers markets in Los Angeles and Ventura counties.
Wholesale Recovery Program - Recovers produce from the 450 wholesale produce vendors at the downtown Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market and across the region.

The produce recovered by Food Forward is delivered to over 350 hunger relief agencies, some of whom distribute to thousands of additional local direct service agencies. Food Forward’s service partners provide nourishing food boxes, supply after-school snacks, distribute produce through pantries and free markets, and prepare healthy meals for food insecure individuals and families across Los Angeles, Ventura, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Imperial Counties. Our corps of incredible community volunteers provides Food Forward with the power to recover produce and connect it to our partners.

In 2022, Food Forward will strengthen our organizational infrastructure and workflows to ensure we can maintain historic levels of surplus produce redistribution to fight hunger in the communities we serve. We will find efficiencies in our internal systems, seek additional sources of produce, and ensure responsiveness to hunger relief agency partners so we can deepen service to their communities. In 2022, our budget has increased to $5.5 million to level-up the staff, equipment, technology, and other infrastructure required to continue this work sustainably into the future.

Food Forward has become the largest produce rescue nonprofit in Southern California. The work our staff has done to create a leading food recovery model – building an engaged volunteer corps, creating a custom software platform and portal unique to our produce rescue needs, establishing one-of-a-kind relationships with produce donors and mutually beneficial partnerships with robust, reputable nonprofits – has paid off. In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted daily life, Food Forward rose to the public health challenge, quickly launching an emergency initiative to more than double produce distribution to more than 60 million pounds. The organization was able to surpass the historic amount of food distributed in 2020, rescuing and donating more than 67 million pounds (over 240 million servings) of fresh fruits and vegetables in 2021 alone. Food Forward impacts the entire hunger relief system of Southern California and helps to spur the shift towards a food system that offers fresher food to individuals experiencing food insecurity.

Since its founding in 2009, Food Forward has recovered and distributed 225 million pounds of fresh produce and prevented emissions of over 63,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent. This year, Food Forward will reach 250 million pounds (equivalent to one billion servings) of fresh fruits and vegetables distributed to communities across the region! Every day, Food Forward recovers and distributes enough produce to meet the five-a-day fruit and vegetable needs of 150,000-160,000 people. Food Forward recovers fresh, surplus produce from over 800 fruit tree properties, 200 farmers at 14 farmers markets, and 450 wholesale produce vendors. Over 340+ hunger relief agency partners across the region receive and distribute Food Forward’s recovered produce to their clients, 100 percent free of charge.

Despite the uncertainty that the COVID-19 pandemic brought to the food recovery sector, Food Forward has continued to meet our mission of recovering food that would otherwise go to waste and distributing it, free of charge, to Southern Californians experiencing food insecurity. In 2022, we have continued an increased pace and volume of food recovery that would have been impossible just a few years ago. The organization also prides itself on being nimble and responsive in our service model. Core activities and models of Food Forward’s three produce recovery programs have altered as needed throughout the pandemic, making changes to streamline workflows, maximize efficiency, increase safety, and better serve our partners.