How the RI Food Bank Keeps Food Out of Landfills
This Earth Day, we’re highlighting the ways the Rhode Island Community Food Bank works to make sure food stays out of landfills, whether it’s nourishing neighbors or being turned into nutrient-rich soil.
According to Feeding America, every year in the U.S., 38% of food goes unsold or uneaten, while millions of neighbors face hunger. Food banks sit at a unique intersection of both of those problems.
Keeping food where it belongs: on tables
One of the ways we fight food insecurity is by making sure food that might otherwise go to waste gets into the hands of neighbors who need it most. Through our Retail Rescue program, we connect grocery stores and retailers directly with our member agency food pantries and meal sites across Rhode Island: redirecting food from shelves to food pantries rather than the dumpster.
Beyond the injustice of wasting food when so many neighbors could use it, food waste is also a significant environmental problem. When food ends up in a landfill, it produces methane, a potent greenhouse gas and a primary driver of climate change. Keeping food out of landfills isn’t just good for our communities, it’s good for our planet.
Preparing food with purpose
Each weeknight, our Kids Cafe program prepares from-scratch, nutritious dinners for more than 400 students in afterschool programs across Rhode Island, all cooked in our state-of-the-art commercial kitchen. Through our Healthy Habits program, our team develops seasonal, budget-friendly recipes using ingredients commonly found at food pantries, and leads cooking class series at member agencies and partner organizations around the state.
Closing the loop with composting
The most sustainable thing we can do with food is make sure it gets eaten. But even with the best intentions, there are times when food simply can’t be safely eaten or used. That’s where our newest sustainability effort comes in.
Our Community Nutrition team has partnered with Black Earth Compost to divert food scraps and excess food from our kitchen through composting. Rather than ending up in a landfill, food is transformed into nutrient-rich soil, completing the cycle in the most responsible way possible.
“Composting in our kitchen is an important extension of our mission: it ensures that even what we don’t serve still nourishes our community,” said Yesenia Barnier, Director of Community Nutrition at the RI Food Bank. “By turning food scraps into soil instead of waste, we model for our youth that every resource has value, every action has impact, and caring for our environment is part of caring for each other.”
From rescue to table to compost, the Rhode Island Community Food Bank is committed to making sure food serves its highest purpose. Happy Earth Day!
Founded in 1982, the Rhode Island Community Food Bank serves as the central hub for food distribution across its state-wide network of 137 member agencies, ensuring that nutritious food reaches those who need it most in RI. Through donations, federal programs, and community partnerships, the Food Bank works to improve the quality of life for all Rhode Islanders by advancing solutions to the problem of hunger.
The RI Food Bank is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Your donation is tax-deductible as allowed by law.
Rhode Island Community Food Bank︱rifoodbank.org︱(401) 942-6325︱200 Niantic Avenue, Providence RI 02907︱contactus@rifoodbank.org
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