Food rescue

Source reduction

Reduce the amount of food that is generated and potentially wasted. Individuals can for example make shopping lists so they don't buy more food than they really need.

Human consumption

Organizations can donate both non-perishable and unspoiled perishable food at the end of its shelf life, e. g. to food banks, food pantries, food rescue programs, homeless shelters, and other organizations.

Food with no expiration dates but just past the 'best by' date by a couple months rescued from going to landfill and distributed to people who needed and wanted it

Feeding animals

Many animals can eat food scraps. Some farmers, solid waste collectors and recycling centers collect discarded food.

Chickens eating food that would otherwise end up in the garbage

Industrial uses

Anaerobic Digestion is a conversion process that converts food waste into renewable energy. Food is separated from any packaging and broken down into a more digestible state and then it is mixed with bacteria in special oxygen free holding tanks. The bacteria work to break down the food waste converting it into methane biogas which can be used to generate electricity.

Hydrothermal Liquefaction is the process of heating food waste under high pressure, converting the food waste into an oil that can then be refined into fuel. Once the initial liquefaction is complete, the watery waste left over then goes through anaerobic digestion where the microbes break down the waste into methane and carbon dioxide biogas. This biogas can be used for heat and electricity.

It is also possible to use fats, oils, grease, and meat products for rendering and biodiesel production.

Composting

Add remaining food waste to an existing compost. Composting has many benefits over general waste landfills, including reduced methane gas production and improving the quality of the soil.

Australia

In Australia, OzHarvest was launched in November 2004.

Canada

Canada's Second Harvest Toronto, in operation since 1985. BC's Squamish Helping Hands Society

Israel

Food rescue charities outside of the United States include Israel's Leket Israel-The National Food Bank

New Zealand

New Zealand's first food rescue organization is Kaibosh. Operating in Wellington, it was founded in August 2008. FoodShare, provides food rescue for the city of Dunedin in the South Island of New Zealand commenced operations in March 2012. Fairfood and KiwiHarvest operate in Auckland, and other organizations work in Hamilton, Tauranga, Palmerston North, and Christchurch.

Norway

A 2015 study ^[4] listed 53 charitable organisations that are actively running food rescue programs in Norway. The largest donors are supermarkets (59%), followed by bakeries and other food producers. The distributors are mainly charitable organizations, mostly with a religious connection, like the Salvation Army and the Church City Mission. Most of the work is done by volunteers, without any salary. The receivers are mainly narcotic and alcohol addicts, but also include homeless, immigrants and victims of domestic violence. Most of the food is given away as prepared meals. More than one million meals are provided per year in the cities covered by the study. Other food is given away as bags of groceries.

Distribution of free food is often used as a method for charitable organizations to enter into contact with people who need help with drug abuse, psychological problems or similar. Volunteers often emphasize the importance of having spaces where users can pick up food with dignity and discretion, plus sometimes have a cup of coffee or a shower. Often, volunteers provide emotional support or help people with things unrelated to food acquisition, such as sharing work tips or helping immigrants with administrative tasks requiring knowledge of the Norwegian language.

The charities sometimes cooperate with each other by having a common food bank. This makes it easier to maintain steady supplies of diversified food to users.

Some users report that receiving free food may lead to stigmatization and thereby feelings of inferiority or social exclusion. To counter this, charities sometimes charge a low, symbolic price for the food, or offer food in exchange for participating in the work of preparing it.

Singapore

In Singapore the Foodbank Singapore is running their own Food rescue project, by collecting food excess in various places around the Islandstate.^[5]

United Kingdom

Some organizations, such as Fareshare in England, work directly with food manufacturers to minimize food wastage. In 2005^[6] 2,000 tonnes of food was saved from being wasted, This food was then redistributed to a community food network of 300 organizations. This food contributed to over 3.3 million meals to 12,000 disadvantaged people each day in 34 cities and towns across the UK.

USA

In America, numerous food rescue organizations pick up and deliver food in refrigerated trucks. Most are members of Feeding America, formerly America's Second Harvest. Recipient agencies serve people of low and no income.

In Chicago, foodrescue.io runs the largest food rescue program for prepared and perishable foods. They coordinate the rescue of fresh and prepared food from restaurants, grocery stores, cafeterias and caterers that reaches more than 80 nonprofits around the Chicago area. Initially, it focused on making local connections between excess food and the need for nonprofits. As of 2015, the food from downtown and wealthy neighborhoods is also reaching neighborhoods in the Southside and the Westside that are designated as food deserts.

Second Helpings, Inc., founded in Indianapolis, Indiana in 1998, addresses four problems—food waste, hunger, job training, and sourcing skilled labor for the local food service industry. Each day Second Helpings volunteers and staff rescue, prepare and distribute 3,500 hot, nutritious meals to 70 social service agencies. As of July 2013, more than 500 adults have graduated from the Second Helpings Culinary Job Training program which trains disadvantaged adults for careers in the foodservice industry as cooks, executive chefs, business owners and culinary instructors.

Food Rescue, founded in Indianapolis, Indiana in 2007, is an independent nonprofit which brings together more than 500 volunteers who donate 90 minutes of their time once a month to rescue unserved restaurant food and deliver it to local food pantries. Food Rescue has salvaged an estimated retail value of $1  million annually. The growing organization has chapters in Indianapolis, Greenwood, and Muncie, Indiana; Greenville, South Carolina; Charlotte, North Carolina; Ft. Worth, Texas; Minneapolis, Minnesota; St. Paul, Minnesota; Naples, New York; and Fredericksburg, Norfolk, and Reston, Virginia.

The Food Bank for Westchester operates a Food Recovery program in Westchester, New York, and partners with over donors (grocers and local retailers) to provide fresh food to the hungry and food-insecure of that County.

The Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, founded in North Carolina in 1989,^[7] reached a distribution level of 5 million pounds (2,300 tonnes) annually as of 2007. They distribute to about 200 programs, including shelters, soup kitchens, pantries, and housing authority neighborhoods. Volunteers prepare grocery bags of fresh fruits, vegetables, and bread to deliver door-to-door to seniors on fixed incomes and low-income single parent households.

Some food rescue organizations specialize in surplus produce, which is more difficult to distribute than many prepared foods due to its short shelf life. One such organization is Fair Foods, which has been distributing surplus produce to the Boston area since 1988, distributing over 6,000 pounds of fresh food daily.^[8] With a mission of keeping everyone in Boston full and healthy, Fair Foods distributes mixed bags of produce at over 20 sites in the Boston metro area.^[9]

The Society of St. Andrew is a volunteer-based gleaning nonprofit.^[10]

Some organizations, like Waste No Food, use technology to notify charities where and when excess food is available to aid in their food recovery efforts.

Other nationally recognized food rescue organizations include, City Harvest, D.C. Central Kitchen Forgotten Harvest and Philabundance.

A directory of food rescue organizations, the Food Rescue Locator, is maintained by Sustainable America.