Food Rescue and Food Banks with Feeding America’s Diane Letson

Our latest episode is with Diane Letson, Vice President of Food Industry Partnerships for Feeding America,  a US–based non-profit organization that is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies. Diane shares how Feeding America’s work reduces food loss and waste while fighting hunger and how partnerships with cold chain companies can bolster these efforts. Together, we discuss how legislation can shape food donation and the important roles food banks play in our communities that go beyond handing out food.

If you have an idea for an episode topic you’d like to see featured or if you would like to participate in an episode of USAID’s Kitchen Sink, please reach out to Nika Larian (nlarian@usaid.gov).

There’s no time to waste!

Transcript

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Nika Larian) Welcome to USAID's Kitchen Sink a food loss and waste podcast. I'm your producer, Nika Lian. 30 to 40% of the food that is produced is either lost or wasted, contributing to a global food crisis with over 800 million going to bed hungry. Listen on as USAID experts speak with researchers and development professionals to explore solutions to this critical issue that demands a kitchen sink approach. When it comes to climate food security and food system sustainability, we have no time to waste. Thanks for tuning in to USAID's Kitchen Sink, a Food Loss and Waste podcast. My name is Nika Larian. Food Lost and Wasted by ASR and producer of the U.S. Kitchen Sink. Today I am joined by Diane Letson, vice president of Food Industry Partnerships for Feeding America. Together, we will discuss the role of food banks in reducing food loss and waste. Welcome, Diane. Please introduce yourself. Thank you for having me, Mika. Good morning. My name is Diane Leadsom and I am vice president of Food Industry Partnerships at Feeding America. Also, I would add, hunger relief worker to my title, and I've been with the organization for 27 years. Thanks for sharing a little bit about your background, Diane. Let's dive right in. I really want to learn more about the work that Feeding America does and how it relates to reducing food loss and waste. sure, so we start. Nika really at thinking about the entire continuum of the supply chain. When we think about how we rescue food and I neglected to share with you that the team that I lead in food industry partnerships is responsible for securing donations from manufacturers, foodservice distributors, the retail segment of our food and grocery industry. So really the only item that we don't touch is working with ag and farmers. And so having said that, we look at where does the food start and how does it move through the supply chain. And at each point in growing harvesting, production, manufacturing, storage, distribution, where is there an intersection where that product is deemed less than fit for the primary customer? So it might end up being food waste, right? So we start really with relationships with farmers and ag that food being produced or grown, I should say. What happens if there really isn't a market for it because the market is flooded with that particular commodity? What happens to all of that produce that's been harvested? What happens if produce has been harvested and the grade isn't the grade that maybe a food service distributor contracted for or a retailer wants sitting in their produce sections at the grocery store? Those would be the type of items that our food banks would rescue from fields that they can glean from fields. Or it may be products that– produce that. The farmer says, “We will package it for you and you can come and pick it up.” Or we welcome having volunteer labor come help us figure out how to put it into a usable form. So we start really at that basic level of who's growing our food and how can we connect with that industry? And from there then it gets a little bit more nuanced where when food items start to move into production facilities or manufacturing facilities, where along the manufacturing line, our ingredients partially finished product, where are those items being kicked out by quality assurance or quality control? Because it's not meeting the company's standards and could be food waste. Still fit for human consumption, still completely edible, still something you and I would eat. But again, it's just not fit for that primary customer. So working with manufacturers, there's ample opportunity from ingredient form to finished form, including what happens when a manufacturer reformulate a product. And there's all this first formulation, if you will, sitting in inventory. What happens to that? What happens when companies innovate and do some test product that maybe fails in market or isn't embraced by consumers to the degree that a manufacturer thought it would be? So there's that whole segment also, including food service, which rescuing that sometimes can get a little more tricky because now we're talking about huge cans of diced tomatoes, right, rather than retail sized cans of diced tomatoes, but still an item that we would want to rescue and save from landfill and can be used in commercial kitchens or containers that often are appreciated by large families, families of ten or more that we're serving. And then the final kind of leg, I would say, in our journey is working with retailers. So the retail industry, retail grocery stores on a daily basis have items that will not go to shoppers, will not go to consumers. So what happens to that? Is that an item that can be donated doesn't end up in compost? How can our food banks and their partner agencies insert themselves into that food loss and food waste solution so that we can capture more food to serve to hungry neighbors? Thank you for sharing that information, Diane, and explaining how a Feeding America really serves as a connector and one of these connections that I'd like to to dive deeper into is talking about cold chain. We've previously done an episode with Amanda Brondy of the Global Cold Chain Alliance. So I'd like to discuss with you the synergies that exist between cold chain companies and food banks. Absolutely. So of our 200 partner food banks, they vary dramatically in size, but one item that they frequently have in common is the concern that there's not enough cold storage space, whether that's refrigerators face or freezer space. And in many cases, our partners, food banks and their affiliate food banks. So there's a whole umbrella system of the food banks and the partner agencies that work with us on 200 food banks, 60,000 partner agencies. It's the same I don't want to say complaint, but it's the same concern of we just don't have ample space for all of the cold storage. So partnering with folks like Amanda, it is an absolute saving grace, if you will. In many cases, when cold storage facilities step forward and say, Hey, Houston Foodbank or hey, Office food bank, we have space for you that we're willing to donate because we're a nonprofit organization. We're always looking for donations and space. But sometimes if the cold storage companies are not able to outright donate for an extended period of time, they will offer a discount for the food bank to contract then with that facility and have some additional cold storage space. And it gets I would say gets to be a little bit more challenging for our food banks. Our partner, food banks, affiliates, food banks and those 60,000 partner agencies or partner charities around the holidays, because as you can imagine, folks are starting to think about their Thanksgiving distributions. They're starting to think about end of the year distributions, including Christmas and other holidays. So they're focused on moving a good amount of product to folks for those family gatherings. Definitely a valuable synergy there between food banks and cold chain companies. But I want to discuss with you the role that food banks have beyond just food. I talked about feeding America as being really a connector. And I know you kicked off our conversation by talking about that, but I really want to conclude our conversation on discussing the role that these food banks play in our communities. And like I said, we've had other episodes about cold chain and we have other episodes planned on food donation and talking about legislation like the Food Donation Improvement Act, which has reduced some of the barriers to food donation for retailers. But I want to hear from you The important role that food banks play in our communities that go beyond just handing out food. That's a great question, Nika. And and because I've been with the organization for so long, I'll probably start with just the community partner that they are in disasters. That's top of mind given some of the events from over the weekend with flooding and tropical storms. So the food bank is in, the community has been in the community and will continue to serve the community long after some emergency relief organizations come in, serve and leave. Right. The food bank is also on the front line, often in conjunction with other nonprofits such as the American Red Cross. I think of a wonderful example recently with World Central Kitchen. So we are on the front lines serving and ensuring that folks that in time of disaster have the supplies that they need, whether it's food, water, personal care items are also in great demand during disasters as our cleaning products. And so we work in tandem with the other nonprofit organizations and government organizations during those disasters. But folks pull out, right? Other nonprofits pull out, leave. It's back to normal, if you can use that word. Normal conditions and the food bank is still serving that purpose for folks that have been impacted by disasters. Also, because they've been embedded in the community for so long. Food banks are interested in serving food, providing food for neighbors. But food banks also realize the reason that a person is hungry often has to do with their economic situation. So more and more food banks are working to have either in their facility or in conjunction with another nonprofit or for profit job training opportunities. So they could be job training opportunities in the warehouse. So you learn how to be a warehouse employee. They could be job training opportunities in culinary. So learning how to become a chef, learning how to work in a food service operation. So more and more of those type of programs are popping up. There's also food banks that are really interested in your financial literacy. So in thinking of that continuum, right, of like, why is someone juggling medical bills and trying to put food on the table and maybe paying their rent and paying their utilities and fixing a car that needs repair It goes back to that economic mobility and economic situation. So in addition to job training, there's the thought of, okay, could we provide additional resources in financial planning and budgeting so that we can help folks understand how to stretch a dollar even more? In addition to all of that, there has been for quite a while with many of our food banks, a focus on nutrition and helping to educate more of our neighbors on healthy choices and what is a rare food to consume and sometimes food to consume and an always food to consume. We don't want to be the food police, but we do want to help folks make healthy choices. There are also food banks that have completely delved into understanding diabetes and their communities, and so they will tailor, we call them medical food boxes. So the box that you would receive if you have diabetes is very specific to your health needs. So, again, providing hope to folks through food, but then also providing additional pieces of the puzzle to help our neighbors really thrive. And I would say not only thrive, but then excel to get them on a path that really promotes financial well-being as well as physical and mental well-being, wow really, really important work that you all are doing. And and it reminds me, I'll borrow some of USAID's terminology. We talk about a multisectoral approach to nutrition at the agency, and Feeding America really seems like a multisectoral approach to hunger, to food. You mentioned job training, financial planning, nutrition, education, all of these different components that have really positioned food banks to be a valuable asset to communities. And I think there is a really integral community aspect to food in and of itself. I think food can build communities. There's a lot of culture and that that comes around food. So I think it's a really important nexus that food banks can play in terms of raising awareness of food, lifestyle, waste and changing behavior. So I really appreciate the great work that Feeding America is doing. And I think food banks are doing a lot more than than just handing out food. And so I really appreciate you sharing that. Work with our listeners today. Thank you, Nika. And I would just add to, you know, for a long time, Feeding America has characterized itself as a hunger relief organization. I think we're starting to talk more about how we are the oldest food rescue organization in the United States, food recovery organization in the United States. And certainly the largest I think the two can work in tandem. Right. We're rescuing that food. We're recovering that food to provide that hunger relief for our neighbors. So I've been at it for 27 years with the organization, and I'm continuously impressed with how innovative our food bank partners are and not just our 200 food bank partners, but also the affiliates that work with them and the 60,000 partner agencies. And we saw a lot of that during COVID that all of these entities pivoted almost immediately to create programs that would work for our neighbors. So really keeping our neighbor at the center of the work with a constant reminder of this is why we're doing this right and this is why we're rescuing food. It's because the neighbor next to me or the neighbor across the street needs that help and needs that food assistance. Absolutely. I feel like food recovery is is definitely a hot buzzword right now in the food loss and waste space. So thank you for the reminder that this work has been going on for quite some time. And thank you for your 27 years of dedication to this topic. But yeah, really appreciate the time that you've taken today and have really helped, as you said, humanize and contextualize this issue of food loss and waste and how we can tackle it as a community. Thank you Dianne. Thank you for tuning in to USAID's Kitchen Sink. This podcast was produced by Nika Larian and is organized by the USAID Food Loss and Waste Community of practice co-chairs Ahmed Kablan and Ann Vaughn. Additional thanks goes to Feed the Future, the US Government's Global Food Security Initiative and the USAID Center for Nutrition.(music playing)