412 Food Rescue

Why We Do It

412 Food Rescue was founded as a direct response to the disconnect between food waste, hunger, and environmental sustainability. We waste up to 40% of our food globally (translating to over 1.3 billion tons annually), while 1 in 7 people go hungry every day. According to ReFed, if we recovered about half (46 billion pounds) of the food being wasted, we could feed every hungry person in the United States 3 meals a day, every day.

Not to mention, food waste is an environmental problem. Food production uses 10% of the energy budget, 50% of the land and 80% of all freshwater consumed in the United States. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, over 97% of food waste generated ends up in a landfill.

We believe that:

Good food belongs to people, not landfills.

Up to 40% of food that is produced is wasted.

Everyone has a right to healthy food.

1 in 7 people goes hungry every day.

Climate change requires urgent action.

97% of food waste ends up in landfills, generating a large portion of U.S. methane emissions.

How it works:

We partner with food retailers, volunteer drivers, and nonprofit organizations to connect surplus food with individuals and families who are experiencing food insecurity. Our intuitive app guides thousands of volunteers who we call Food Rescue Heroes, to rescue perfectly good but unsellable food that would otherwise be wasted and redirect it to people who need it.

Our food donor partners range from grocery stores, wholesalers, caterers, and everything in between. Our nonprofit partners include housing authorities, daycare centers, churches, community centers, and more.

Our model of food recovery and redistribution not only enables access to healthy food, but gets food to where people already are – overcoming barriers like transportation and time. 87% of the food we rescue is fresh food; primarily produce, meat, dairy, bread, and more.

While food rescue is the core element of our work, we do many other things to address food waste and hunger in our region, like creating meals from surplus food, equipping people with better cooking skills, creating innovative products from food waste, and distributing “unsellable” produce in a CSA program.

Our Impact

We’ve proven that food rescue is about way more than just food.

There are many ways to measure impact and success. Maybe you’re a numbers person and want to peruse reports and resources. Maybe you’re more interested to hear how our work is reducing food waste and hunger among community members, from community members. Or maybe you want to explore both.