Restaurants generate millions of tons of surplus food every year, yet less than 1% of that food is ever donated, according to ReFED.
A new tool from Food Rescue US, a national nonprofit, is addressing this issue by making it easier for restaurants to donate excess food to food banks, pantries, and other nonprofits. Food Rescue US created the tool in partnership with Toast, a provider of automated payments to restaurants, using funding from a ReFED grant. The three organizations announced the new tool at New York City’s Javits Center during Climate Week NYC (see photo, top).
Food Rescue US, which mobilizes more than 30,000 volunteers to pick up and transport food that would otherwise go to waste, has saved more than 206 million meals across 25 states to date. But relatively little of that has come from restaurants. “There’s not really a lot of food recovery happening for restaurants, particularly quick service restaurants,” said Joe Robbins, Chief Product Officer at Food Rescue US. “It really is an underserved market.”
