Lauren 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.
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.
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
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
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.
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.
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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