We all grew up with some version of "eat your whole dinner... there're children starving in China!". The truth is there are people starving here and abroad. 13% of US households are "food insecure".
What's crazy is the amount of food we waste. Produce gets rejected before it hits the grocery store because it's "ugly". Baked goods get tossed because they are a day old. Restaurants and events have leftovers.
It seems a 1:1 solution. We have food going to waste and people going hungry: let's make some connections.
Petition the government and large grocery stores to make changes. Grocery stores can sell the non-standard or bruised produce, or use them for their own prepared foods. A tomato may be an odd shape but make for a tasty salsa. Or, grocers can pass these along to food banks and kitchens.
Sites like change.org allow you to create or join a petition on a number of different topics; simply search "food waste" for several results. Or, visit www.uglyfruitandveg.org to learn more about how you can get involved.
Other countries like France and Italy are already doing this through new laws. And The Real Junk Food Project in the UK has opened a food waste pay-what-you-can supermarket. Let's do this, US!
Donate your restaurant's or caterer's prepared goods. There's an awesome company Copia that is solving for this in the San Francisco area (and hopefully will expand!). They are an app that lets restaurants post food, and local drivers pick it up to deliver to non-profits in need. You can tweet them to show support for them expanding to your area.
Some restaurants like Starbucks are connecting directly with food banks through their own programs.
What can you do? If you work for a restaurant or frequent a favorite restaurant, ask them if they are involved with a donation program. Many ingredients or prepared goods are still edible for several days past the "best by" date.
We've got this, US! Let's connect our available food to our people who need it.
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