Community to be involved in the project and the needs to be addressed

(This organization) directly serves 62 zipcodes in Philadelphia and the surrounding area with further expansion to other parts of the state projected in the next year. Our service areas maintain a 15.8% food insecurity rate (compared to the national rate of 11.8%) with 249,890 people living with food insecurity, 27% of whom do not qualify for SNAP benefits. Further, 30.9% of children within our service areas are food insecure, 23% of which do not qualify for federal nutrition programs. People of color and Latinx people are most at-risk of food insecurity within this area with 23% of Black residents and 25% of latinx residents facing food insecurity. As federal poverty guidelines act as eligibility requirements for most social safety net programs, a majority of struggling families find themselves with insufficient income to meet their daily and basic needs, but with too much income to qualify for financial or government support (Parkes), leaving people to rely on local food pantries and other food access programs to survive.

In the United States, 120 billion pounds of edible food enters landfills each year–food that could go to nourish the more than 13 million people facing food insecurity nationwide. (This Organization) saw these two problems as solutions to themselves, and was formed to reduce food waste and increase food access through rescue and distribution programs. (This Organization) exists at the intersection of food surplus and food scarcity–operating as the connector of surplus food (through grocers, wholesalers, and farmers) to the organizations in our community putting in the legwork to solve the local hunger crisis (food pantries, food banks, and other nonprofit organizations).

Funding from the USDA NIFA program will support the expansion of (This Organization)’ retail and wholesale redistribution operations, allowing us to bring on the two additional rescue drivers needed to divert surplus food from large chain grocery stores like Giant to local hunger relief organizations. One rescue driver will focus directly on retail rescue, transporting approximately 10,000 pounds of surplus food per week, and the other driver will focus on wholesale distribution and will be transporting approximately 20,000 pounds of food per week.

These expanded food rescue operations will allow us to further support approximately 200+ food access organizations in and around Philadelphia, a city where a large percent of its citizens live within food deserts (communities with limited access to grocery stores or other nutritious food). Historical trends with our food rescue programs estimate that 80% of the food rescued will be produce, further improving food choice and nutrition outcomes in Philadelphia. The median household income for the areas we serve is just $26,308 (“Impact by Zip Code”) with a racial demographic makeup of 71.5% Non-Hispanic Black or African American and 16.9% of Hispanic, Latino, Asian, or American Indian (“West Philly Neighborhood”).