MenuFood Forward
WebsiteDescription
Food Forward collects surplus fruits and vegetables from backyard fruit trees, public orchards, farmers markets, and the downtown Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Terminal. 100% of the recovered produce is donated to hunger relief agencies across eight counties in Southern California. Since 2009, Food Forward has rescued over 80 million pounds of fresh produce and will provide fruits and vegetables to 2 million people experiencing food insecurity this year. The organization has won four consecutive Food Recovery Challenge awards from the U.S. EPA (2015-18) for its work to prevent and reduce food waste.
Mission Statement
Food Forward fights hunger and prevents food waste by rescuing fresh surplus produce, connecting this abundance with people in need and inspiring others to do the same.
Program Details
Food Forward collects produce through three programs:
Backyard Harvest - This Food Forward flagship program conducts 100% volunteer-driven picks on more than 740 unique private properties and public spaces throughout Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara Counties. This program connects nutritious, unused fruit with direct service agencies, bringing fresh produce to those in need and promoting community awareness of this excess fruit as a means to combat hunger.
Farmers Market Recovery - The 140 farmers markets held on a weekly basis throughout Los Angeles County provide an untapped source of excess produce of the highest quality. Food Forward offers the only formal, market-endorsed donation system for farmers wanting to help fight hunger with their unsold produce. First piloted in 2012, this volunteer-driven program currently operates in 5 Ventura and 20 Los Angeles-based farmers markets, benefitting 95 agencies in their local communities.
Wholesale Produce Market Recovery - While Food Forward has done periodic ad hoc produce recovery at the Wholesale Produce Market in downtown Los Angeles since 2009, we launched a more systematic program in 2014. With more than 210 wholesale vendor partners now on-board, this fast-growing program complements our other produce recovery work, but on a much greater scale.
