The national network, Feeding America, has relationships with large growers, so food banks just pay for the labor to have the produce picked and packed, as well as transportation costs.
There’s a lot of opportunity here because Scales says over 6 billion pounds of fruits and vegetables get left in the fields every year.
Eliminating waste
Another important source for increased distribution is food rescue. Scales says food comes from grocery stores, retail distribution centers and local farms.
This past year, the Food Bank received 14 million pounds, or almost 12 million meals through its food rescue efforts, she says. Ten million pounds was from the Food Bank’s service area.
“We have a great opportunity, working with our local farmers here in southwestern Pennsylvania. We talk about sourcing to excess, we want to make sure we’re supporting local farmers in terms of eliminating any food waste,” Scales says.
Because the Food Bank serves a vulnerable population, almost half of its recipients are children and seniors, food safety remains critical — and food rescue is no different.
“All of our trucks are refrigerated and we really look and ensure that the cold chain is intact. And we work with our donors in terms of ensuring that at the point that we get it that it’s maintained, if it’s a refrigerated or fresh product,” she says. “That it’s safe at the point that we pick it up.”
In the 20 years Scales has been at the Food Bank, she’s experienced a lot of change, even though today’s change is more rapid than most.
More canned goods and boxed food are sold to secondary market stores, rather than donated. Plus, with the rise of just-in-time inventory or other efficiencies, manufacturers produce food in smaller batches and fewer overruns are donated.
That’s causing food banks to search for other opportunities, like food rescue, produce and even online retailers, such as Blue Apron and Amazon.
Serving its clients better is a continual but worthwhile effort, because Hunger in America found that 77 percent of those who are food insecure rely on inexpensive, unhealthy food to fill their plates, Scales says. In southwestern Pennsylvania alone, about 325,000 people are food insecure and 100,000 of those are children.
“We have such an opportunity to meet the need, and an equal opportunity to do whatever we can so that people don’t need our services,” she says.
