Welcome to the first newsletter of Community Food Rescue, a new initiative to develop a coordinated food recovery system throughout Montgomery County, Maryland. This system enhances the good work of businesses, agencies, and organizations that already recover perfectly good food before it is thrown away. You are receiving this newsletter because of your interest in hunger alleviation and food waste prevention. You may unsubscribe below if you no longer wish to receive our emails. Please read on...
While there are many active food recovery programs in our community, 23% of food in Montgomery County is still being wasted, while an estimated 78,000-82,000 people do not know where their next meal will come from. Community Food Rescue is building a coordinated countywide system that fulfills the vision of the Montgomery County Council and the on-going efforts of the Food Council's Food Recovery Working Group.
Using a systems approach, our goal is to reduce food that is still being wasted and redirect it to hunger relief agencies that serve those in need. Community Food Rescue has:
- Established a Food Safety Guide for handling and transporting recovered food;
- Created an information sharing, incentives, and recognition program for participants; and
- In 2015 will use a match-making platform to connect food donors, recipient agencies, and volunteer food runners.
Learn more and follow our progress through this newsletter, website and Facebook page.
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Hunger, Food Waste, and Food Rescue
| 23% of our landfill is food waste |
People in Montgomery County go hungry, even in a prosperous County like ours. According to Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap study, an estimated 78,000- 82,000 Montgomery County residents do not know where their next meal will come from, referred to as "food insecure". Perhaps more alarming 35% of children in Montgomery County Public Schools qualify for free or reduced meals.
Even though there are active businesses and organizations that recover food in Montgomery County, food waste still accounts for nearly 23% of the solid waste stream. That equates to 246,000 tons per year. Wasted food also wastes the land, water, and energy that was used to produce the food itself. Read More
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The Complex Dance of Rescuing Food
| Pat Drumming and helper sort through donation from Coastal Sunbelt |
Sometimes it all comes down to being in the right place at the right time. Pat Drumming, Executive Director of Rainbow Community Development Center, based in Silver Spring, Maryland received a phone call that Coastal Sunbelt had 2-3 pallets of surplus produce that needed immediate pickup. She had one hour. Drumming jumped into her truck (funded by a 2014 Montgomery County Jumpstart grant) to retrieve what turned out to be 11 pallets of fresh produce and dairy.
"We filled the truck to the brim with eight pallets and there was still more food. I told them I could come back or call someone else but they said they could not wait another hour. They had to leave five pallets of food behind", Drumming explained sadly. Read More
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Nourish Now Brings A Festive Meal to At-risk Youth and Families
| Nourish Now rescues prepared food donated by Suburban Hospital |
"We are excited to provide a donated dinner for the upcoming Winter Wonderland Celebration, a night full of fun, festive activities with 200 people expected", shared Brett Meyers, executive director of Nourish Now, a non-profit food rescue organization in Rockville, Maryland. The event is hosted by So What Else Can We Do to Help in partnership with Nourish Now and will take place at the White Oak Community Center (WOOC). "We will take part in the evening by donating delicious restaurant quality food such as grilled chicken, ribs and different pasta dishes" explained Meyers. Read More
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Join Us at these public meetings!
The Montgomery County Food Recovery Working Group meets every second
Thursday of the month from 9:30-11am at 100 Maryland Ave. 5th Floor conference
| MoCo Food Council |
room, Rockville, MD and is open to all. Contact Cheryl Kollin, [email protected] for more information.
The next public meeting of the Montgomery County Food Council will be held on Wednesday, February 11th 7-9 pm and will feature
food recovery. For location and more information, contact [email protected].
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About Us
Community Food Rescue (CFR) grew out of the vision and funding support of the Montgomery County Council, County Executive and an Action Plan developed by the Food Recovery Working Group of the Montgomery County Food Council. The Food Recovery Working Group, comprised of businesses, agencies, and organizations actively engaged in food recovery, advises and supports the Coordination Team, who is charged with developing an overall strategy, design, and implementation of Community Food Rescue.
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| It takes a community to rescue and redirect food |
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Active Food Recovery Working Group Organizations
Celestial Manna
DC Central Kitchen
Family Services Inc.
Food Recovery Network
Full Plate Ventures
Gaithersburg HELP
growingSOUL
Interfaith Works
Julie's Food Pantry
Manna Food Center
Montgomery County Coalition for the Homeless
Montgomery County Dept. of Health and Human Services
Montgomery County Dept. of Econ. Dev.-Ag. Services
Montgomery County Public Schools Food Services
Montgomery College
Montgomery County Council staff
Nourish Now
Rainbow Community Development Center
Say No to Waste
Shepherd's Table
Sodexo
University of Maryland Eastern Shore-Campus Kitchen
Women Who Care Ministries
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