Feeding San Diego joins the 1% for the Planet network

Feeding San Diego is proud to announce our selection as a new environmental non-profit partner with 1% for the Planet, a global organization that connects dollars and doers to accelerate smart environmental giving. 1% for the Planet non-profit partners work to advocate, conserve, steward, educate and activate to create a healthy, vibrant future for our planet.

With a mission to connect every person facing hunger with nutritious meals by maximizing food rescue, Feeding San Diego provides more than 26 million meals annually to people facing hunger by rescuing nutritious food from more than 530 locations, including 204 Starbucks stores every night of the week, and 225 farms and packing sheds throughout California. Over 97 percent of the food we distribute to the community is rescued. By diverting more than 25 million pounds of good food from the landfill each year, we are averting more than 23,000 metric tons of CO₂ equivalent from being emitted into the atmosphere.

1% for the Planet is a global platform that allows businesses and motivated individuals to support non-profits working towards environmental solutions through annual giving. It was started in 2002 by Yvon Chouinard, founder of Patagonia and Craig Mathews, founder of Blue Ribbon Files, because they recognized that the current level of environmental giving – only three percent of total philanthropy – was not enough to solve the most pressing issues facing our planet. Through their business and individual memberships, 1% for the Planet inspires people to support environmental organizations through annual membership and everyday actions. The 1% for the Planet network of more than 1,800 members has given more than $225 million to environmental non-profits in more than 60 countries since the organization began.

“Feeding San Diego is honored to be recognized as a 1% for the Planet member,” said Vince Hall, CEO of Feeding San Diego. “We look forward to working with other 1% for the Planet members and partners who share our commitment to a healthy, vibrant planet.”

Forty percent of all food produced is wasted, while one in eight people face hunger in San Diego County, including one in six children. Feeding San Diego does not believe that the solution to ending hunger is producing more food, but rather rescuing good food before it goes to waste and connecting it to people in need.

Eight percent of global greenhouse gas emissions are attributed to food waste. When we toss still-edible food into the garbage, it ends up in landfills where it generates methane and carbon dioxide. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, 34 percent of all methane emissions in the US comes from landfills. If food waste was a country, it would be the third largest producer of carbon dioxide in the world, after US and China.

To learn more about Feeding San Diego as a non-profit partner of 1% of the Planet, click here.