This Earth Month (and every month) We’re Feeding People, Not Landfills with Food Rescue

Published On: April 1st, 2021By Categories: Campaigns3.8 min read

In 2019, an enormous 35% of all food in the United States went unsold or uneaten.* Most all of it became food waste, meaning it went straight to landfill, incineration, or down the drain, or was simply left in the fields to rot—with a greenhouse gas footprint equivalent to 4% of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Much of this “waste” is actually food that could feed the hundreds of thousands of people facing hunger in San Diego County. This month, we have launched a Feed People, Not Landfills campaign to educate our community about the importance of food rescue for people and the planet.  

Our mission is to connect every person facing hunger with nutritious meals by maximizing food rescue. Since March 2020, we’ve distributed more than 32 million meals. We’re proud of the massive amount of food we’ve diverted from the landfill, even during a global pandemic. Despite disruptions to the food system and the need to purchase more food than ever before to keep up with the rise in need for food assistance, we’ve stayed true to our mission: nearly 70 percent of the food we distributed since March 2020 was rescued. 

Think global, act local

According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s Food Recovery Hierarchy, feeding hungry people is the second most preferred option after source reduction when it comes to preventing and diverting food waste. Our commitment to this mission has earned us recognition from the United Nations Association of San Diego, which has designated us a Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Champion, and created a seal to recognize this honor for meeting four of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals: zero hunger (SDG2), responsible consumption and production (SDG12) climate action (SDG13), and partnerships (SDG17). The seal also establishes Feeding San Diego as a local partner of UNA San Diego in its commitment to do its part in implementing the SDGs by 2030.UN Champion Seal

“We at the local UN Association are proud to endorse this campaign,” said Bettina Hausmann, President, and Chairperson of the San Diego Chapter of the United Nations Association (UNA-USA San Diego). “In our advocacy efforts, our work focuses on translating the big, global concepts of the United Nations into the local context. Over the past six years, this has been particularly related to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). With Feeding San Diego’s mission to end hunger through food rescue, it aligns with this concept of what the United Nations – we as a global community – are set out to accomplish together by 2030.” 

 

Woman stands with Feeding San Diego "Feed-Rescue-Unite" jacket in distribution center

Your actions matter

Interested in maximizing your involvement during the campaign? Below are a few ways to get involved: 

  • Make a gift today. All donations will help provide nutritious meals to people in San Diego County facing hunger. 
  • David C. Copley Foundation Match up to $25,000 l April 16-22 Double your impact! Between April 16 and 22, all donations to Feeding San Diego will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $25,000. Give online here. 
  • Virtual Film Screening of Wasted! The Story of Food Waste l Thursday, April 22 from 6 – 8  PM. Join us for a virtual screening of “Wasted! The Story of Food Waste,” a documentary produced by the late Anthony Bourdain that showcases the creative things famous chefs are doing with food to eliminate food waste. Learn how food waste is directly contributing to climate change and how each of us can play a part in solving one of the greatest problems of the 21st century. Register here.  
  • Climate Controller Girl Scouts Patch . A joint effort between Feeding San Diego, Girl Scouts San Diego, and Swinerton Renewable Energy, the Climate Controller patch is a way for youth to learn more about the issue of food waste and how rescue combats climate change. Girl Scouts can earn their Climate Controller patch remotely with simple activities they can do in their own homes, such as taking a no food waste pledge, conducting a food waste audit, making recipes out of food that would otherwise go to waste, and growing vegetables from scraps.  Learn more here.
  • Join the #KindhumansChallenge on Social Media . San Diegans can join the #KindhumansChallenge to spread kindness for both the earth and people by creatively spelling the word kindness with whatever is around them, then sharing on social media with the hashtag #KindhumansChallenge. For every post shared, local company Kindhumans will donate 20 meals to Feeding San Diego, with a goal of 20,000 meals. Full details can be found here. 

*According to ReFed, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending food loss and waste across the food system.