Participating stores receive a poster informing their customers how many pounds of food have been “rescued.”
Through our Retail Rescue program, the Food Bank works with local and national retailers to connect them with our member agencies and turn food that would otherwise be considered “food waste” into food donations.
The Retail Rescue program is as a win-win for both the food industry and for agencies distributing food. Retailers are no longer paying for food to be disposed of, while agencies get food donations that they immediately give out to their clients. In most cases, retailers are donating to the very communities they serve. Click here for a list of our participating retailers.
Thousands of pounds of unsold but good food are thrown away by the food industry. This “food waste” can exist because there wasn’t enough demand for particular items. This food is still safe for consumption yet has passed their “sell by” date (freshly-baked bread, for example), or because the product wasn’t particularly appealing to customers (think dented cans or oddly-shaped fruits and vegetables that you pass over on grocery store shelves). The issue of having tens of thousands of food insecure households in Rhode Island while edible food is destroyed shouldn’t be lost on anyone.
How does it work? Well, “rescued” food typically comes from one of five categories:
Each Food Bank member agency is paired with one or two stores and will regularly pick up donated food. All agencies are trained and required to follow food safety standards to prevent the perishable food items from spoiling.
Once back at the agency, the food will then be distributed to Rhode Islanders who need it.
One of the issues facing Retail Rescue in Rhode Island is the small size of the food industry. At the same time, the food industry is getting more and more efficient at reducing waste, meaning that there is less excess food to donate. Since the need for food assistance has remained relatively high, this makes getting food to those who need it that much more difficult. Our goal is to increase the amount of food donated, despite high demand and better efficiencies in the industry.
