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40% of food goes to waste in the U.S.
In the United States, roughly 40% of all food produced is sent to the landfill. At the same time, 1 in 6 Philadelphians are experiencing food insecurity. We believe these two problems should never coexist.
Philabundance was founded over 35 years ago when Pamela Rainey Lawler saw perfectly good food going to waste, and, at the same time, saw people going hungry.
What started out as a small food rescue organization operating out of a Subaru, 35 years later, is an innovative impactful and collaborative organization focused on driving hunger from our communities today and ending hunger for good.
Philabundance partners with food manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, farmers, and retailers to capture surplus products before they go bad. We step in before this happens to ensure good food goes to people, not landfills.
Through our Retail Rescue program, we partner with over 400 grocery stores and other retailers (including Starbucks and the Philadelphia Airport) to rescue surplus food weekly. Due to strict federal product “best by” guidelines and consumer demands for variety, retailers are often left with having to throw away incredible amounts of edible food. They too want to make a change!
If your retail business has surplus food to donate, visit here for more information about how to join our Retail Rescue program.
Philabundance partners with more than 200 food industry businesses across our service area to rescue bulk surplus products, often by the truckload. Some of our partners include the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market, the local ports, and other large-scale distribution centers and wholesalers providing items such as produce, meat, dairy, dry goods and other frozen and refrigerated items.
We understand that some produce might not be sellable because of physical blemishes, but we know those blemishes don’t take away from the nutritional value or taste of the product. At Philabundance, we love the bumpy apples, misshapen bananas, or discolored oranges. As long as it meets the criteria laid out in our donation guidelines, we’re happy to accept produce that just looks a bit different.
If your food industry business has surplus food to donate, visit here for more information about how to support Philabundance.
Help Us Relieve Hunger
Whether you are a grocer, food industry partner, farmer or individual, you can help drive hunger from our communities today and end hunger for good.