Food Forward is an innovative food recovery organization working to fight hunger,share abundance, and prevent food waste in Southern California and beyond by rescuing and distributing fresh fruits and vegetables that would otherwise go to waste, connecting this abundance with people in need and inspiring others to do the same. Since its founding in 2009, Food Forward has recovered and distributed 200 million pounds of fresh produce and prevented emissions of over 56,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent.
Over the last 12 years, an organization that began with just one tangerine harvest has grown to the largest urban gleaning nonprofit in California, centered around the idea of sharing abundance. Food Forward recovers fresh, surplus produce from over 800 fruit tree properties, 200 farmers at weekly markets, and 300 wholesale produce vendors. In 2019, we opened our first warehouse and refrigeration space, the Produce Pit Stop, which proved to be foundational to our COVID-19 emergency response.
Food Forward impacts the entire hunger relief system of Southern California and helps to spur the shift towards a more sustainable food system that provides fresher food to people experiencing food insecurity.
Impact
- To date, Food Forward has distributed 200,000,000+ pounds of fresh produce that would have otherwise gone to waste.
- Food Forward’s produce rescue has prevented emissions of over 56,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent
- Food Forward serves hunger relief partners across eight counties in Southern California, six states, and multiple tribal lands.
- In 2020, with an operational budget of just $3.4M, Food Forward returned a value of over $108M in social impact.
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