Fight hunger, save the environment

FeedMore WNY’s Retail Partnership Program has kept 5 million pounds of quality food out of landfills since 2020, and we’re just getting started!

Food retailers pull products from their shelves for a number of reasons, including items that are close to “best buy” or “sell by” dates, have slightly damaged containers, are outdated holiday fare, or simply to make room for new inventory. “Best buy” or “sell by” dates are about food quality – the look, consistency, best flavor – and have nothing to do with food safety. Many foods are perfectly viable days, weeks, even months after their sell by dates.

In 2020, roughly 3.9 million tons of wasted food ended up in landfills in New York State alone. There it slowly decomposed and produced methane gas, a potent greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Sending good food to hungry mouths rather than landfills is an obvious solution, but not a simple one.

At the end of 2022, FeedMore WNY was working with nearly 60 retail food stores. Partner agencies picked up the food, weighed and reported the quantities received and the food was distributed where it was needed most and in the timeliest manner. Each year since the program’s inception, the number of pounds of food saved has grown. Last year it totaled more than 2 million pounds!

Amber Thiel, FeedMore WNY’s Retail Partnership Coordinator enthusiastically shares, “It’s so cool to bridge the gap between abundance and need while also addressing environmental issues.”