Milan Is Winning the Fight Against Food Waste

Los Angeles-based nonprofit Food Forward was born out of the observation that many farmers are growing more fruit than they can sell at market. To cut down on food waste and get these viable fruits into the hands of people that are food insecure, Food Forward operates as the "transfer point between donors and receiving agencies," while also coordinating volunteers to forage the local farms and farmers markets.

In some cities, empty urban lots transformed into multilayered "food forests" that mimic natural ecosystems are providing free, accessible fresh produce to city residents through strategically designed edible plantings that feature native and adapted fruit trees, nut trees, and berry bushes.

FoodCommune aims to reduce food waste by rescuing food before it ends up in landfills, redistributing about 6,000 pounds of food per week. FoodCommune gathers food from farmer’s markets, grocery stores, restaurants and other sources, redistributing enough to feed about 300 people each week.

When the economy came to a sudden halt with the onset of a global pandemic, farmers were left with produce meant for the restaurant industry while families who lost incomes struggled to put food on their tables. For one good samaritan “it was just a matter of connecting the dots.” George Ahearn's idea to crowdsource transportation from farms to food banks led to the creation of EastWest Food Rescue, a nonprofit that has delivered 2.4 million pounds of crops to 160 food banks.

Technology can help reduce food waste. Olio and Winnow are two examples. Olio is an app that allows people to easily exchange extra or unwanted food for free. Winnow is a smart trash can that calculates the cost of waste in commercial kitchens, inspiring chefs to be more creative to save both food and money.

We Don’t Waste serves more than 100 hunger relief organizations across the city and has saved and redistributed 220 million servings of food to date. The team of staff and volunteers who recover and distribute food to the community has not only helped prevent food waste, but also greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental consequences, all while feeding locals in need.

Pepperdine University’s Food Recovery Network club rescues unconsumed food from events on campus and a local Starbucks and gives it to nonprofits in the area that distribute it to those in need. Since forming in the Fall 2016 semester, the club has rescued 14,603 pounds of food that would have otherwise ended up in a landfill.

Community fridges, like The Friendly Fridge, popped up during the pandemic as a way to get food to people in need, as the pandemic highlighted nationwide food insecurity issues. The fridges survive on donations from community members, other organizations and local restaurants and grocery stores. It’s estimated that about 250 people will grab something from The Friendly Fridge each day.

The RVA Community Fridges addresses the issue of food insecurity by setting up household or industrial refrigerators outside of a host business, like a restaurant, non-profit or church. Anyone can swing by a fridge and take whatever they need or leave whatever they can. To fill the fridges, community members, local businesses, and other organizations donate purchased or cooked food.

The UGA Garden works with Trader Joe’s to gather viable produce the grocery chain gets rid of each Sunday. Student workers go through the food each week, compost what has gone bad, and use the rest to make meals for those in need. The organizations has gathered over 330,000 pounds of food so far and deliver over 700 meals per month.