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World Disco Soup Day Interview with Gleaners!

4/24/2019

 
Picture
Photo courtesy of Bob Durling
SFB: What drew you to the food rescue world? 
Jack: I used to be a physical education teacher in Arlington, VA, and taught for 3 years in elementary school where I realized kids had no idea where their food came from.  I was working at a title 1 school where 80% of our kids were on free or reduced lunch - their concept of food was it was that it came from the grocery store. I started becoming interested in connecting kids and their families back to the land - back to food and growing food - and decided to go back to school.  I got a masters degree in environmental education up in New Hampshire, and since then I’ve worked with Waltham Fields Community Farm, Mill City Grows and a few other non-profits in the area.  I’ve grown this real interest and passion towards food rescue and how we all play a role within our food system, more specifically helping educate individuals, community members, and the general public on what is food waste and how do we prevent it.  It’s been a journey!

SFB: Given your background working with kids, is this also a focus of the Gleaners’ work?
Jack: We have started to incorporate family gleans where we invite families to come out and help us.  We’ve implemented 2 last year, and we had 2 and 3 year olds out there picking green beans and harvesting apples!  It was fabulous. The parents and kids enjoy it, and it allows families to get out and experience farm life. I’ve also done a few elementary lessons at schools where I go in and teach kindergarteners about gleaning and what that means.   

SFB: Can you provide an example of the pathway of the Gleaners’ rescued food? 
Jack: We partner with farmers up and down eastern Massachusetts and all the way out towards Leominster.  For example, we are partnering with the Autumn Hills Orchard out in Groton; their orchard manager will call us saying that they’ve already reached their quota on apples, and there are a bunch that they can’t get to.  We then get a group of volunteers to meet us on the farm, and we’ll harvest for up to 3 hours per trip; hosting 2-3 trips per day and walking away with anywhere between 8 and 15+ thousand pounds of apples in one day.  The apples are all harvested into large bins, which are then loaded onto our trucks, and either put into cold storage or brought back to our facility to be repacked into banana boxes.  Once packed and palletized, they’re back onto the truck and delivered to the Greater Boston Food Bank, Rhode Island Food Bank, New Hampshire Food Bank, or are individually delivered or picked up by a local food pantry.  We also partner with Food For Free and Daily Table.  Last year we worked with 45 farms - in the past up to 80 - and currently work with about 25 individual hunger relief agencies.  With our food bank network we’re reaching 750+ agencies overall. ​
SFB: What are the biggest challenges you see for the fight against food waste? 
Jack: It comes down to the consumers.  The ideal of nature being perfected, where we demand a perfected piece of fruit to buy in a grocery store or find at a farmer’s market, is unrealistic.  There are tons of food being left just because of looks or if there’s minor damage to it, but 90% of the crop is still good. I think it’s about changing the mindset of what we know as food, and our relationship with our food that we’re consuming each and every day.  

SFB: Primarily what market do you service?
Jack: We work with farms with just a few acres and also large-scale farms - anywhere from 3-4 acres to 70 acres.  Most are family-owned, generational farms that have been around for quite a while. Big crops for us are apples and butternut squash, but any crop that you can imagine growing here in Massachusetts we are harvesting.  We have several partnerships with orchards, but most of the farms we work with are very diverse with their crops. We can be on a farm every week and we’re constantly getting something different. 

SFB: What is your relationship with other local food rescue organizations?
Jack: We work closely with Daily Table and Food For Free.  We also partner with Lovin’ Spoonfuls.  It was great because two of their current employees used to work for us so we made that connection!  They routinely pick up food, and have started as a small partner but we’re hoping to build with scale.  

SFB: What is the most interesting creation you've seen (or made yourself!) from rescued food? 
Jack: We work with Commonwealth Kitchen and they have produced apple sauce and tomato sauce, which is delicious and also a really good outlet for us.  We also did an event with Mei Mei - the ability for Chef Irene to take rescued produce and turn it into something delicious really changes the mindset of how food should be cooked.  We provided her with just 6-7 ingredients and she was able to transform that into an 8 course meal. She’s such an incredible, innovative entrepreneur and person in our city who is really trying to change the dynamics of what restaurants are built around, and creating a workforce that is appreciated and respected.  ​
SFB: Do you recall any particularly memorable beneficiary interactions you'd like to share?
Jack: As an individual that has been out in the fields harvesting and helping distribute food, I’ve been lucky to witness some really rewarding interactions.  When you’re delivering food on a Saturday morning at 7:30 in the morning and you see individuals already lining up with their carts even though the pantry doesn’t open until 11, you know they’re there because they want the first choice for the fresh produce that’s coming in.  The people that we’re providing food to don’t have the accessibility or affordability to go out to the store and buy that nutrient-rich, locally sourced produce that’s a natural right for all of us, but unfortunately is not the case in all communities. It’s wonderful to see the joy and smiles on their faces when they see us show up with boxes of food, and they want to help us.  They’re always peeking into the boxes excitedly, saying “Ooooh! There are peaches this week! Tomatoes!” It’s a good feeling when you know that you’re helping to change these individuals lives on a daily basis.

SFB: How would you like to see the Boston community more engaged in the food waste fight?
Jack: What Daily Table has implemented within the Dudley Square area is creating the ability and the resource to have a place where people can easily grab food to go: it’s a fresh, healthy choice, instead of going to your local bodega or fast food joint.  I think we need more of this. One of our board members has opened up Neighborhood Produce in Somerville, a bodega serving fresh produce that’s based around what the community wants.  It’s bringing individuals to the table - farmers, community members, and organizations - and figuring out not what people on the higher-level think should be done, but what actually needs to be done on the street level.  It’s what people really need and want, and creates more of a resource to actually get that implemented. Farmer’s markets are great, but you still have to travel to those. I think we should invest in putting farmer’s markets and other resources within communities that don’t have them but could really benefit from them.

SFB: What are some upcoming plans for the Gleaners in 2019 that you’re excited about?
Jack: We’re taking part in the Walk for Hunger on May 5th, and we’re welcoming individuals to join our team.   We’re also doing the Ride for Food in October this year.  Currently we’re prepping for the season and getting our ducks in a row so when the farmers start calling in June we’re ready to go!

Interested in volunteering with the Gleaners?  Fill out their volunteer form!

World Disco Soup Day Interview with Rescuing Leftover Cuisine!

4/14/2019

 
PictureDana Siles (left), New England Coordinator and Lauren Basler (right), Massachusetts Branch Head, the team behind Rescuing Leftover Cuisine Massachusetts.

Photo courtesy of Rescuing Leftover Cuisine
SFB: What drew you to the food rescue world?
Dana: I have been a wedding & event photographer for 21 years and have seen too much food that was absolutely consumable go to waste. For a long time, I thought it was "the nature of the biz” - one of those "necessary evils" that we face in our professions. But then I learned that food donation was legal and also encouraged by the IRS. I co-founded an initiative within the local events industry to educate venues and caterers about the laws and logistics of food donation and tried to connect them with local human service organizations who provide food to those in need. But an ongoing challenge was that these organizations could not actually drive to recover the food!  I wound up meeting Robert Lee, co-founder of RLC and eventually joined the RLC team in 2017 in order to grow their (at the time) small Massachusetts branch, alongside
Massachusetts Branch Head Lauren Basler. Our branch is now the 2nd largest in the country, and Lauren and I are thrilled!

SFB: What are the biggest challenges you see for the fight against food waste?
Dana: There are a few challenges which are "standards" in the world of reducing wasted food:

1. Many food recipients don't know that they can accept excess prepared food and are not familiar with the Emerson Act. They are afraid to accept and serve this food, yet their guests would absolutely utilize this food if given the opportunity. One of my goals is to host community meetings with those who run these organizations to educate them on food safety.  
2. On the same note, most businesses are afraid to donate excess food because they fear liability issues, at times even after being educated on ServSafe guidelines and the Emerson Act.

3. Businesses do not want to "change their ways." Making change takes time. Time is money. They are a business, not a non-profit - so shifting this mindset is an ongoing education and challenge (which I welcome)!

4. Many businesses believe they do not need to donate excess food if they compost. It's easier to compost. I try to educate them that, in the case that the food is consumable, 
"the banana should be donated - it's only the peel that belongs in the compost."

5. "The Juggle:" sometimes, we have too many donor partners and not enough volunteers. Other times, we have volunteers upset because all of the rescues are taken and they can't participate. So it's a constant balancing act and a challenge that we welcome and charge through over time!

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Photo courtesy of Rescuing Leftover Cuisine
SFB: Primarily what market do you service?
Dana: Any business that has excess prepared food that is consumable, even if not sellable. Since we are strictly volunteer based, we target smaller-scale excess food (up to 200-300 pounds in general) and the majority of our rescues are under 100 pounds. We have no minimum requirement for pickup: we will pick up as little as 5 pounds of food. We don't see it as 5 pounds. We see it as 5 pounds and many opportunities!

SFB: What is your relationship with other local food rescue organizations?
Dana: We prefer to "complement and not compete" with other local organizations such as Lovin' Spoonfuls, Food For Free, Daily Table, Boston Area Gleaners, etc. The work they do is equally important yet quite different from what we do. They are recovering mostly fresh food or large scale prepared food. Some of them have trucks and staff to handle large quantities.  I actually hosted a roundtable discussion at the Environmental Protection Agency last year to get us all on the same page. I wanted to make it clear to them that we are here to "fill in the gaps" and not compete. We refer them, they refer us, and we complement each other to reduce wasted food and educate donors and recipients.

SFB: What is the most interesting creation you've seen (or made yourself!) from rescued food? 
Dana:  Daily Table amazes me.  What their chefs are able to prepare from excess food that would have otherwise gone to waste is amazing...they are an inspiration!
PicturePhoto courtesy of Rescuing Leftover Cuisine
SFB: Do you recall any particularly memorable beneficiary interactions you'd like to share?
Dana:  I recently brought food from one of our donor partners to their designated recipient: Sister Rose's in New Bedford, MA, a church shelter for those without a permanent home.  As always, I pulled my car up to the back door and the staff and guests greeted me to take the food out of my car: a combination of salads, sandwiches, breakfast foods, fruit and veggie bowls - really good, quality food from a cafeteria of a local business. Everyone was so excited about the food - I hear "ooooh" and "aaah" from everyone. And then I hear one of the guests say (paraphrasing): "I can attest that this is healthy, quality food. I made it this morning!" I had to do a double-take: it was one of the chefs from the cafeteria I just rescued the food from. The last time I saw him was at the establishment in his "official" uniform. Now it was night time, he was in a baseball cap, and in a different element.  I was surprised to see him and asked, “Are you working here?!" His answer was that he was staying there temporarily and that he was so grateful for Sister Rose's and also for this food - that he just happened to make that morning!

This experience jumps out at me because when I am educating people about RLC, I always highlight that food insecurity is more common than generally acknowledged: the food insecure person could be your next door neighbor or the person in front of you in line at the bank. This man has a good job at a great business, and he was the recipient of his own created food at a time he needed it most. 

One quote that I love: Our guests range from full-time working women who cannot make ends meet for their families to women living in shelters, cars, or on the streets. On an average morning, we serve women on their way to work in scrubs, and guests who literally only have the clothes on their back… Our guests are resilient, inventive and determined to help their families thrive. Without food donors, these women and their families would have one less resource and may have to resort to skipping meals…   - Sharon Briggs, Rosie’s Place

SFB: How would you like to see the Boston community more engaged in the food waste fight? 
Dana:  Don't get me started. Haha! Education needs to happen in three different ways: to the potential food donor partners, to the potential volunteers, and to the potential food recipients. In addition, it takes government and local influencers to help make this change. This is all stuff we are actively working on and I look forward to a positive outcome over time.

SFB: What are some upcoming plans for RLC in 2019 that you’re excited about?
Dana:  Thanks to the collaboration of our food donor partners, volunteers, and recipients, 102,796 pounds of recovered excess food provided about 82,236 meals for those in need throughout MA and prevented about 38,548 pounds of CO2 emissions from entering the atmosphere in 2018. This more than doubled our success in 2017 and we are excited to see what 2019 brings! 


Very recently, we were approved for funding in order to offer three PAID “Lead Rescuer” positions in order to continue to grow our mission in Massachusetts! Why are we piloting this new program? We have 27 Open Rescues per week that we must fill consistently in order to continue growing RLC in our state. To learn more, please email me at dana@rescuingleftovercuisine.org.

In addition, we are seeking passionate interns who are committed to social, environmental and local action. This is an opportunity to develop valuable new skills while making a real impact in the community. Documentation will be provided upon request for internship credit, resume and college application use. Internship opportunities include: Marketing Intern, Operations Management Intern (paid internship) and Outreach Intern. To learn more, please visit: https://tinyurl.com/RLCMA-Internships

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Photo courtesy of Rescuing Leftover Cuisine
We are eager to grow RLC throughout all of Massachusetts. To start, we need volunteers!  Sign up here. Note: Under Preferred Region, click Massachusetts; Under Availability, it's best to check All. It would be wonderful if you also check the box for Emergency Rescues!

World Disco Soup Day Interview with Lovin' Spoonfuls!

4/10/2019

 
PictureLauren Palumbo, COO, Lovin' Spoonfuls
SFB: What drew you to the food rescue world?
Lauren: I previously worked in hospitality and the non-profit sector, and food rescue was a combination of these two passions - food, and working in an organization that prioritizes people over profits.  It was the perfect melding of those two worlds!

SFB: Can you provide an example of the pathway of Lovin’ Spoonfuls rescued food?
Lauren:  We rescue from about 70 businesses and deliver to 140 organizations.  Our Food Rescue Coordinators do their best on the road each day to match what they’re receiving from retailers with the needs of each agency.  For example, cut up fruit from Whole Foods is great for afterschool programs so they have easy snacks, while frozen proteins from Wegmans can be really helpful for a soup kitchen to incorporate into their meals, and day-old breads are fantastic for Saint Francis House’s breakfast service.

SFB: What are the biggest challenges you see for the fight against food waste?  
Lauren:  A big challenge is ensuring that all businesses are prioritizing what we tend to call “higher level diversion.”  Massachusetts has an organic waste ban that requires businesses that have more than a ton of food waste each week to divert it from landfills.  They could comply with that via composting or anaerobic digestion, but for us we look at it this way: as long as there are still 10% of residents in MA that are food insecure, we need to ensure that we are prioritizing higher level solutions or preventing that food from ending up in the landfill.  Source reduction is number one on the list of solutions to fight food waste, but number two is feeding people.  We want to make sure that we’re continuing to educate the businesses that we work with to maximize the amount of food being donated, but we also want to make sure that we are educating the community and businesses in the state as a whole to let them know that they have options.  Just because composting might be easier because their retailer offers it, it’s not necessarily the best solution.

SFB: Primarily what market do you service?
Lauren: We tend to work within your typical large grocery stores - Whole Foods, Wegmans, Big Y, Roche Bros., Hannaford, Trader Joe’s.  We also work with distribution and wholesale partners, in food service, and in farming during growing season. Retail is definitely the sweet spot of our work because there is a consistent source of food on a daily basis there.  We typically don’t work further downstream than that: corner markets, small restaurants, or bakeries aren’t the best fit for our operation just because we are running 12 ft box trucks.  It doesn’t make sense operationally, or in terms of efficiency and cost, to send a team member to rescue 10 lbs of day-old bagels for example, which unfortunately there are a lot of!  That being said, we do have a couple of ‘legacy partners’ that we have been working with since the beginning and we have maintained those partnerships. We do have a minimum collection for businesses, but we have been working with them for so long that if they’re along the route we fit them in.

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Photo courtesy of Lovin' Spoonfuls
SFB: What is your relationship with other local food rescue organizations?  
Lauren: We don’t have specific partnerships, but we’re all very much in regular communication with each other.  We all certainly run in the same circles so we see each other quite a bit and we’re all friendly! I think we all try to make sure that we understand the goals and the missions of each organization, and recognize that there is no one solution to this problem: reducing excess food waste is a multifaceted challenge that requires a variety of solutions.  The Boston Area Gleaners are a perfect example because none of the rest of us do gleaning.  We work with farms, but we work with farms on post-harvest product: we rescue product that they pick and that gets stuck on a shelf in a farmstand, or that they put into a CSA share that never got picked up.  The food that we rescue is all 100% expected to be retailed and sold, but then just isn’t for some reason. We do not have the staff levels or bandwidth to go on the farms and pick the product that was never harvested in the first place, so they are an essential resource doing something that none of the rest of us are doing.  While Food For Free does work similar to us, they’ve moved into a variety of hunger-relief solutions that we don’t do.  For example, they run a weekend backpack program where they are creating meals for people, and we are specifically a distribution organization.  Rescuing Leftover Cuisine is focused on prepared foods and working a lot in the quick service restaurant spaces.  We have just traditionally found that that model is not necessarily a fit for us because they want pickups late at night, and they’re usually small quantities.  It comes down to the fact that food waste is happening in so many different ways throughout the food distribution spectrum, retail, and service that it requires as many solutions.  We’re fortunate in this region to have a wide variety of solutions, because I also recognize that there are whole swaths of the country where there are no solutions.

SFB: Do you recall any particularly memorable beneficiary interactions you'd like to share?
Lauren: We have so many - I think we’ve been so fortunate to be able to build so many strong relationships with all the organizations that we’re serving.  A few of my favorite quotes include: 


"We know that community is built around food - with the students we serve, their families, and the neighborhood - and Lovin' Spoonfuls is at the heart of that." - Paraclete, South Boston

"I look forward to every Monday & Wednesday because I know we're going to receive good quality food from Reggie!" - Needham Community Council Food Pantry
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Photo courtesy of Lovin' Spoonfuls
"Lovin' Spoonfuls deliveries have allowed Natick Service Council to convert from a traditional pantry model of pre-made boxes for each patron, to a Client-Choice model food pantry where families choose their own groceries. The abundance of produce and perishables from Lovin' Spoonfuls has given them the flexibility to make this switch. They've also set up a "Farmer's Market" on Wednesday with Lovin' Spoonfuls product. This market has allowed them to extend their services to 12-15 more families." - Natick Service Council

SFB: How would you like to see the Boston community more engaged in the food waste fight?
Lauren: We’d like to continue the consumer education piece.  While it’s not the main focus of our work, we recognize that 40% of food is wasted in the country.  Nearly half of that waste is happening in home kitchens and it’s completely preventable.  We’d like to work on educating consumers on better shopping habits and better ways to use stems or leafy greens - items that folks are constantly tossing at home.  We'd also like to make people aware of how much money the average family wastes.  It’s something that people are always shocked to hear, especially when we’re constantly trying to find ways to budget and stretch our dollars.  So we have our main focus on food recovery and redistribution, but we also do have workshops and educational materials that we try to share with the general public to further that message of consumer education.  
​
SFB: What is the most interesting creation you've seen (or made yourself!) from rescued food?
Lauren: I eat kale almost every day - I’m certainly the picture of “What is 2019 Eating.”  One of the things that drives me the most crazy is when people strip the leaves off the stem, when the stem is perfectly edible!  I feel like it’s my mission in life to make people realize that there are a whole bunch of things that you can do with kale stems, one being to just chop them smaller and cook them into whatever recipe you’re cooking.  I like to pickle them: I tend to save pickle brine in my fridge, and then I’ll just toss extra kale stems into the pickle brine.  Once they’re pickled, I just cut them up and toss them on salads, or really anything. This is probably a pretty weird one, but in our house leftover stems actually become dog treats!  

SFB: What are some upcoming plans for Lovin’ Spoonfuls in 2019 that you’re excited about?

Lauren: We just had our first Chef’s Table event, which is a new gala dinner fundraiser for us to raise funds for our operations.  We have 3 Season workshop series coming up later this year, and our signature Ultimate Tailgate happening in November.
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Photo courtesy of Lovin' Spoonfuls
Stay tuned this month for more exclusive interviews with key members of the food waste fight in Boston!  

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