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Food Forward is a nonprofit organization with a mission to fight hunger and prevent food waste by rescuing fresh surplus produce, connecting this abundance with people in need and inspiring others to do the same.
Food Forward rescues fruits and vegetables from backyard fruit trees, orchards, farms, farmers markets, and commercial/wholesale produce vendors, preventing this healthy food from going to waste. Fresh produce is donated, 100% free of charge, to hunger relief agencies who serve families and individuals experiencing food insecurity. Food Forward is providing critical human services and redirecting the inbuilt excess of the food system.
Just like every piece of produce we collect adds up (we're at 250 million pounds!), so do your collective small gifts. Thanks for pitching in!
What started as a neighborhood tangerine harvest and the idea of sharing abundance has grown into the largest urban gleaning nonprofit in California in just 13 years.
Food Forward now recovers fresh, surplus produce through three programs: Wholesale Produce Recovery (rescues surplus produce from 300+ commercial/wholesale vendors by the truckload), and two volunteer-led community programs, Farmers Market Recovery (gleaning surplus from 200+ farmers at weekly markets); and Backyard Harvest (harvests of 800+ fruit tree properties throughout Los Angeles and Ventura counties).
In 2019, Food Forward launched the Produce Pit Stop, our first warehouse and refrigeration space, which proved to be foundational to the organization’s COVID-19 emergency response. When the pandemic disrupted every aspect of the food system, Food Forward’s efficient team and warehouse infrastructure enabled the organization to more than double food recovery and distribution within a matter of weeks in 2020, donating more than a million pounds of produce per week to hunger relief agencies. We have continued that pace over the last two years. Food Forward also supports smaller and mid-sized agencies through nine large-scale “produce hub” distributions, as well as The Sprout, our warehouse extension that serves 15 mid-size agencies daily with 500-5,000 pounds of produce each.
Food Forward’s fruit and vegetable recovery work is necessary because of the incredible amount of nutritious produce that goes to waste in our food system.
According to data collected prior to the pandemic, one in nine Californians experienced food insecurity in 2019 – a level of hunger already unacceptable in a world with more than enough resources to feed everyone. The pandemic exacerbated hunger rates and brought the flaws present within the food system to stark light. During the COVID-19 pandemic, food insecurity spiked to 25% in the state of California and throughout Los Angeles County, and levels have not yet reached the pre-pandemic baseline. At the same time, up to 40% of the food produced in the United States is unsold or uneaten, a total of 80 million tons each year. Just one third of the food thrown away could feed every food insecure person in the country – an unimaginable disparity. The environmental cost of food waste adds up, too: according to the EPA, food waste sent to landfills produces methane, a harmful greenhouse gas 25 times more potent than CO2.
Rescuing food can increase healthy food access for low-income and food-insecure individuals and families. Food Forward’s produce recovery programs provide an innovative, cost-effective, and replicable solution to the need for food donation and the shortage of nutritious options available to food-insecure individuals. As a result of our food rescue and distribution efforts, Food Forward is also helping to reduce food waste, preventing methane emissions from landfilled produce from polluting our atmosphere.
Food Forward began around the fundamental idea of sharing abundance. In 2009, when the first community harvests occurred, the country had just felt some of the worst impacts of the 2008 recession. At the same time, an incredible amount of produce in Southern California was going to waste. Los Angeles County was once the largest agricultural producer of citrus in the nation, and that abundance still exists all around us, in people’s backyards, in orchards, and in public spaces – largely going unharvested. Rick Nahmias, Food Forward’s founder, knew that this surplus citrus could be so valuable to our community, if only it could get into the right hands. As he was confronted by growing hunger rates during the economic downturn, and with a solution so readily available, he knew that he had to act.
Food insecurity is a stressor that inhibits growth and prosperity. When people face hunger, finding their next meal becomes the immediate concern, prohibiting them from focusing on transformative priorities like a job search or education. Typically, people who experience food insecurity lack access to the nutritious options they need to thrive and rely on fast food or lower-nutrient alternatives to fresh foods. Children especially require a nutritious diet for proper growth and development. When people don’t receive the nourishment they need, their physical and mental health suffer. A 2017 global study found that food insecurity is associated with poorer mental health, independent of socioeconomic status. The study indicates that food insecurity leads to experiencing sadness, worry, anger, and stress at higher rates, creating additional challenges for food-insecure individuals to reach their goals. By connecting surplus fruits and vegetables with those in need, Food Forward helps to address the nutrition requirements necessary for improving both mental health and physical health measures, removing a key barrier to growth and prosperity for low-income communities.
Food Forward’s innovative, community-driven produce recovery programs effect broad, regional impact across Southern California. Our model is contributing to systemic change in how we fight hunger, promote social justice, and improve the environment by:
The greater Los Angeles area is uniquely situated, creating an opportunity for Food Forward’s produce recovery model to have maximum impact on food waste and hunger. Home to the largest produce terminal in the country, one of the busiest international ports in the country, and the highest number of food-insecure people of any county in the U.S. (1.1 million individuals), Los Angeles County has both the excess produce and the community need for a significant food recovery intervention.
With food donations, Food Forward supports local direct service organizations offering wraparound services and holistic support. For many agencies, having a steady source of fresh, local produce donations means that they can focus their resources on meeting the other needs of their clients, rather than immediate nutrition concerns.
Providing hunger relief agencies with fresh, 100% free food makes it possible for our partners to better serve their clients, providing them with nutrition resources that they might not otherwise be able to access. For families and individuals receiving food, this may help relieve the burden of choosing between paying for food and paying for rent, utilities, healthcare, or other necessary costs.
Would you give $4 a month to support four nonprofits that are making a big difference? Join forces with other 52andChangmakers to automatically give to every Cause of the Week. Every Monday, you’ll wake up knowing you’ve already made a difference! As our community grows, so does the impact!
Together we’ve become volunteers in places we would have never expected, planted milkweed for butterflies, provided books to kids in need, helped save endangered turtles, helped turn excess food into nutrition, helped bring art to youth, educated one another about how we are connected to our delicate food systems, helped save abandoned horses and given old dogs new hope, watched foster youth shine in the spotlight of movie making, helped clean tires out of rivers… we could go on and on and on. It is an absolute joy to be a part of such an amazing network of humans making a difference.
“ALMA reconnects the lives of the formerly incarcerated back to the fabric of society. Our participants have the chance at attaining gainful employment and becoming self-sufficient. Urban Farming helps everyone involved explore the relationships between plants, animals and humans as a way of creating a profound connection to both nature and their community.” - ALMA Backyard Farms
While we’re writing this and you’re reading it, Pajaro Valley Loaves and Fishes is out there, finding ways to provide food to more people in need throughout Santa Cruz County, where one of three residents are reported to be food insecure.
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