Feeding San Diego Expands Its Network’s Critical Food Rescue Capacity in Partnership with the City of San Diego as Part of $150,000 CalRecycle Grant
Grant has funded a contract for the nonprofit to purchase new refrigeration equipment at the Feeding San Diego Marketplace and seven partner sites, allowing for higher volume of food rescue from food donors throughout the region
Feeding San Diego has expanded cold storage infrastructure across its hunger-relief network through a $150,000 contract with the City of San Diego, funded by a grant from CalRecycle. The funding supported the installation of 13 refrigeration and freezer units at seven partner agencies and the nonprofit’s client-choice food pantry called the Feeding San Diego Marketplace, increasing capacity by an average of 220,000 pounds per month and enabling more rescued food to be safely recovered, stored, and distributed to San Diegans experiencing food insecurity.
“At Feeding San Diego, we know that there is no shortage of food donations from our partners. While we continue to work to meet the community’s growing needs, we’re also aware that capacity constraints within our agency partner network limit our ability to source rescued food that’s available to us for distribution. This year, we have focused on identifying gaps in critical infrastructure and investing in building our food rescue network’s capacity. The new cold storage purchased with these funds has boosted food access in recent months and will sustain our Marketplace and several partners’ community food pantry operations far into the future,” said Feeding San Diego CEO Bob Kamensky.
In addition to the Feeding San Diego Marketplace, a number of Feeding San Diego’s agency partners, other non-profits who rescue and distribute food in partnership with Feeding San Diego, also received support as a result of this funding. Those partner agencies include San Diego City College, Courage to Call, City Heights Community Development Center, Bridge of Hope, Abundant Grace Christian Center, Masjidul Taqwa, and Good Shepard Community Projects. Between November 2025 and August 2026, the agencies distributed a combined average of 67,305 pounds per month. This is a 37% increase in the average pounds distributed each month as compared to before the capacity building.
Feeding San Diego is the leading hunger-relief and food rescue organization in San Diego County and the only Feeding America partner food bank in the region. Last year, Feeding San Diego rescued 43.1 million pounds of food for distribution to neighbors experiencing food insecurity. The nonprofit has been rescuing food in San Diego County for almost 20 years. In 2022, California law SB 1383 went into effect, requiring businesses to donate surplus edible food to food recovery organizations like Feeding San Diego. The law addresses the climate crisis by reducing the amount of organic waste being sent to landfills, thus reducing the emission of short-lived climate pollutants like methane. Under SB 1383, jurisdictions must establish food recovery programs and expand food recovery capacity. The City of San Diego was awarded the CalRecycle grant to expand food recovery capacity in compliance with SB 1383.
