Food Waste Reduction & Recovery
Thursday, June 30, 3:30 - 5:00 pm, Zoom Recording & Slides
MEETING RECAP
Last Thursday, Thrive had our first in-person TAG meeting at the CZI Community Space in Redwood City. As this event was a combination of both the Environment & Sustainability (E&S) and the Basic Needs & Safety Net (BN & SN) TAGs, it was fantastic not only seeing people together in-person, but also seeing the mingling between both the environmentally and socially-focused organizations. This event focused on food recovery efforts in San Mateo County and we brought together six speakers from three sectors, each with a different perspective on food rescue: Tracy Weatherby, Vice President of Strategy & Advocacy, Second Harvest, Jack Steinmann, Resource Conservation Specialist-Waste Reduction, San Mateo County Office of Sustainability, Sonia Escobedo, Food Recovery Program Coordinator, Nuestra Casa, Mauricio Cordova, Chief Operations Officer, Loaves & Fishes, Constance La Trice Taylor, Associate Director of Program & Services, Samaritan House, and Ryan Bailey, Food Management Coordinator, Flagship Culinary.
To explain the background behind food recovery efforts, we had Tracy start off the panelists. Second Harvest is the food bank servicing both San Mateo County and Santa Clara County and they work with over 300 partners to provide food for free at over 900 locations. Around 50% of their rescued food comes from donations and typically the majority comes straight from farmers. The term “food rescue/recovery” is not a new term as organizations such as Second Harvest have always been involved in the food recovery space, serving 250,000 people per month pre-pandemic and now, over 450,00. At their locations, they serve everyone, focusing on those 275% of the federal poverty line, but turning no one away. In addition, they have a combination of drive-thrus and walk-ups and never require any documentation or proof of income. For their food rescue network, Second Harvest works closely with their partners, either rescuing the food from large-scale donors directly themselves then distributing it to their partners or connecting their partners to smaller grocery stores, who then pick up the food and distribute it. One factor that they’re currently focusing on is looking at smaller, ethnic grocery stores and then connecting them to their partners who serve populations that will appreciate the food more. Second Harvest’s role in this entire process is to manage relationships, keep track of their efforts, train people on food safety, and provide infrastructure to help food recovery, including providing materials such as scales, pallet jacks, thermal blankets, and vans.
To explain Senate Bill (SB) 1383, next up we had Jack discuss the bill and what role the County plays. As a bit of background, the Office of Sustainability is a county department that ensures every community has a sustainable and livable environment today as well as for generations to come. SB 1383 is a law passed by the state of California, meaning it has the same hold in San Mateo County as well as in all other counties in California. At the heart of SB 1383, it is a climate action law, focusing on reducing methane from the breakdown of organic materials, a huge portion of which comes from surplus edible food. SB 1383 has two main goals: reducing 75% of organic waste sent to landfills and recovering 20% of edible food, both by 2025. These will be achieved by requiring cities and counties to pass local ordinances that mandate large food-generating businesses to sign agreements, set up systems with organizations and food banks to recover the surplus food, and redistribute it back to the communities they serve.
Food generating businesses tiers
There are two categories of businesses/food generators that will be impacted by this bill (shown above).
Tier 1: businesses that have more produce, fresh grocery, shelf-stable, and non-prepared food. This includes grocery stores, wholesale food vendors such as Costco, food distributors, and some food service providers. For Tier 1 generators, SB 1383 is in effect right now since January 1, 2022.
Tier 2: businesses that have more prepared foods which will require more careful handling (time and temperature) to meet food safety requirements. This includes hotels, health facilities, large venues and events, and restaurant facilities. For this tier, SB 1383 will go into effect on January 1, 2024.
San Mateo County has one county-wide food recovery program, meaning the County and the Office of Sustainability work with all the cities to pass the same ordinances in every jurisdiction so that food recovery looks the same all throughout San Mateo County. The Office of Sustainability is also responsible for education, inspections, enforcements, and capacity-building for organizations involved in this space.
To move on to the organizational perspective of food recovery, we had Sonia talk about Nuestra Casa’s work. They started in East Palo Alto but have now expanded to serve Redwood City and Belle Haven, serving mainly Latinx and Spanish-speaking people but similar to Second Harvest, they turn no one away. everyone else. Since 2019, they have partnered with San Mateo County, Second Harvest, and local stores to rescue 20,000 - 30,000 pounds of edible food every month, and then distribute this food two times a week to thousands. Pre-pandemic, they provided food to around 2,000 individuals per month which tripled to 6,000 during the pandemic. By working with the food bank and distributing food to local communities, they have reduced the transportation barrier of those who may not have the time or means to go to the nearest food bank, reduced the intimidation or stigma against going to a food bank as Nuestra Casa works right in the neighborhoods they serve, and have connected community members with important resources. SB 1383 has impacted their food recovery program as they have been receiving more quantity and quality food from their generating partners. SB 1383 has allowed organizations like Nuestra Casa to set strict guidelines on foods they can accept or reject depending on aspects such as the quality of the food. The law has also opened the door for more partners and given them more visibility. Through Nuestra Casa’s food rescue and recovery program, they have provided people with healthy, nutritious food and saved families around $400 a month that they can put towards other needs such as rent and utility bills.
To speak on the Tier 2 aspect and working with prepared foods, we had Mauricio talk about his work with Loaves & Fishes. This organization has been around for almost 42 years but for 35 years, they were just a soup kitchen in San Jose. Then, they found ways to mass-produce food, cook it in their kitchens, then distribute it to other organizations in both San Mateo and Santa Clara County. In 2019, they merged with A La Carte, a food recovery program, which gave them the opportunity to expand to locate already prepared, cooked food and redistribute it back to the community. This program allowed Loaves & Fishes to double their services almost overnight! Since the start of the pandemic, their services have been required around 300% more, going from 600,000 meals to 1.8 million meals today, half of which are recovered meals. Since the implementation of SB 1383, they have recovered 1.2 million meals or 1,400 metric tons of greenhouse gases. Their four temperature-controlled trucks can pick-up up to 1,500 meals a day per truck and currently, they pick up around 3,000 meals a day from places such as Stanford University, airports, hospitals, and Meta campuses. None of this work would have been possible without the help of their great partners, including CalRecyle who provided the initial money to start their food recovery efforts. As just in California, we throw away enough food to fill up the Rose Bowl Stadium every day, Mauricio was really excited to implement the A La Carte program and work with prepared foods. Their goal in the future is to recover 2 million meals per year (more than halfway there already)!
Next, we had La Trice discuss Samaritan House and their role in food recovery. Samaritan House has been around for almost 50 years in San Mateo County as one of eight core service agencies. As a core agency, they provide assistance with food, clothing, shelter, medical care, and financial needs. Their largest program is around food. Pre-pandemic, they served 1.4 million hot and cold meals in a year, and now, they serve 3 million. They provide meals for after-school programs, summer camps, senior facilities, shelters, mobile meals, and have a drive-thru grocery in their parking lot. Samaritan House has been recovering food for a long time now as they work with the needs of the community and their facility needs. Around 40 years ago, they had to purchase their own groceries to cook their prepared meals, and then slowly transitioned into asking local grocery stores to donate food. From there, they have expanded to working with larger, chain grocery stores and are now supported by SB 1383. Similar to something Sonia said, due to SB 1383, generators must donate quality food, not the trash or blemished food no one wanted. This in turn gives the people receiving this food the dignity and respect they deserve. La Trice emphasized the need for more partnerships, especially with businesses, caterers, restaurants, and grocery stores to help people become less food insecure, reduce waste, and make a difference.
Finally, we had Ryan talk about the generator’s perspective on food recovery efforts. Flagship provides several services, including janitorial and facility maintenance but also culinary services to businesses. They fall under the Tier 1 category and are contracted under Meta for their catering needs. Since 2019, they have partnered with Loaves & Fishes and work to donate their surplus food (for breakfast, lunch, and dinner) back to the community. They had heard about SB 1383 in 2019 and implemented a Sustainability Program which helped launch two pilot cafes with Meta in Menlo Park. Now, all cafes at the Meta headquarters provide donations as well as Meta cafes in Fremont, San Francisco, and Sunnyvale. In addition, they have expanded nationwide to New York, Chicago, Boston, and Seattle. For donations, they have a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that they must follow every time to ensure food gets safely to their partners:
Repurposing freshly prepared food
Safely cooling the food
Packing the food safely (in reusable/recyclable containers)
Labelling it correctly (with the title, ingredients, allergens, and date)
Safely storing the food
Collecting it by the partners
A La Carte’s food trucks. The back part is a freezer and the middle part goes into the distribution window.
One unique aspect of their partnership with Loaves & Fishes is their refrigerated trucks (shown above) which have built-in speed racks. This takes away the need to take any of Flagship’s equipment and can double as both a walk-in fridge and the distribution site together. This allows safe storage of the food and a quick turnaround to distribute the food. Some other changes they have seen since the implementation of SB 1383 include an increase in food donations, the specific SOP for donations outlined above, their partnership with Loaves & Fishes, scheduled donation collections, and reporting donation data to government agencies starting in July 2022. SB 1383 has also facilitated connections between Flagship and the community through extensive work to connect them directly with local schools. Their donations are distributed directly to families in the local communities right in school parking lots and in their neighborhoods. Some barriers Ryan went over included the existing food surplus infrastructure. The expansion of existing programs is needed to meet and redistribute food surplus as well as more data to assess each region to provide adequate infrastructure. In addition, distribution to local food recovery programs may be challenging as they must provide a pickup option for kitchens that are unable to or do not have the means to safely transport food. There are also barriers to storing and labeling food safely, food time and temperature monitoring, the labor needed to complete a donation, and a need for a comprehensive list of items that can or cannot be donated. The last barriers included safety and expenses related to packing donations as well as education and training to implement more food recovery programs. On the other hand, there are so many benefits to food rescue on the generator’s side including an overall reduction of waste coming from businesses, the creation of new jobs in green industries, providing food to families with food insecurity, working together with other businesses and community leaders to tackle food insecurity, and team-building experiences that all staff at food generators can get behind. From January - May of 2022, with their operations fully open, Flagship has donated 184,882 meals or 221,859 pounds of food or reduced 230 metric tons of greenhouse gases.
As part of the discussion between all the panelists, one of the questions brought up was how the County can best support organizations with their food recovery programs. As part of Jack’s response, he included a survey the Office of Sustainability is spreading that helps them get information on existing capacity, the potential, and interests of food recovery organizations. Through this survey, the Office of Sustainability can learn more about where they can best support food recovery efforts and throughout the years, they have increased capacity with some of their partners, purchasing trucks, paying for staff time, and helping with the actual food recovery process. On the organization's side, SB 1383 has helped create better practices by looking at areas that can be further improved. This is only possible through partnerships with other organizations and with the County. In addition, another major discussion topic was around funding- discussing the potential of creating standardized business models for organizations to get more funds to recover and distribute food, the possibility of charging fees for generators that continue to throw away food and turn that money back to organizations involved in food recovery, and increasing education on food recovery with cities, other counties, and generators to create more awareness and funds for organizations to continue and improve their work.
Thank you so much to everyone who attended this event (either in-person or via Zoom)! We’re excited to continue our in-person events!
The County of San Mateo Office of Sustainability is eager to hear about your organization’s edible food recovery operations, needs, and interests! If your organization is involved in food recovery in San Mateo County or are interested in doing so, please fill out the Office of Sustainability’s brief Edible Food Recovery Capacity Survey. This survey will help the County of San Mateo learn how best to support all food recovery efforts throughout the County. If you have questions about the survey, please email Jack Steinmann at jsteinmann@smcgov.org.
Please reach out to all the speakers & organizations:
Tracy Weatherby - Second Harvest of Silicon Valley (tweatherby@shfb.org)
Jack Steinmann - San Mateo County Office of Sustainability (jsteinmann@smcgov.org)
Sonia Escobdeo - Nuestra Casa (sescobedo@nuestracasa.org)
Mauricio Cordova - Loaves & Fishes (mauricio@loavesfishes.org)
La Trice Taylor - Samaritan House (latrice@samaritanhousesanmateo.org)
Ryan Bailey - Flagship Culinary (ryanbailey@fb.com)
