The value of food rescue
With inflation at a 50-year high, conserving resources and stretching our dollars as far as possible is more important than ever. This is nothing new to The Food Bank, but it serves as a good reminder of the many issues that the organization addresses in addition to feeding neighbors facing hunger.
Food costs sit at a historic high, and our supply chains are still experiencing disruptions. Addressing and preventing food waste is more critical than ever right now—and that’s where Ozarks Food Harvest comes in. By partnering directly with food suppliers, wholesalers and retailers, The Food Bank kept 400 semi-truck loads of perfectly good food from going to the Springfield landfill last year alone. Not only did that food go on the tables of people who needed it, but these efforts also saved $193,080 in dumping costs.
When you combine savings like this with our ability to distribute $10 of food for every $1 donated, your support of the Ozarks Food Harvest mission is more impactful than ever—and it’s making a difference when it’s needed the most.
Food banks were originally created to save food from the landfill while helping food-insecure families in the 1960s. By 1977, food banks were established in 18 cities across the country, and by 1983, Ozarks Food Harvest opened in the Queen City to serve southwest Missouri.
For the last 39 years, Ozarks Food Harvest has focused on helping food-insecure neighbors take care of themselves and their families while saving hundreds of thousands of pounds of food from the landfill each year. The Food Bank has always been committed to saving this food and redirecting it to the people who need it, but in today’s world, it’s even more important. Reducing food waste presents us with the powerful opportunity to help end hunger while saving the planet.
When you donate to Ozarks Food Harvest, you can trust that your dollars are being used to do the most good in the 28 counties we serve across southwest Missouri. Your gifts help provide meals to food-insecure neighbors and help our planet by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, conserving clean water and keeping perfectly good food out of our landfills. If you would like to learn more about The Food Bank’s food waste prevention initiatives, feel free to reach out to Bart. Let’s work to end hunger and protect our environment together.