Opinion: Ending food waste and the cycle of hunger – it can be done

September is Hunger Action Month, a nationwide effort to raise awareness about hunger in America. However, these questions still persist: What are we doing to structurally eliminate food insecurity? And how can we maximize our food resources so that no one ever has to go hungry?

New York City has long been at the forefront of reimagining food systems and food access. For decades, committed organizations like Food Bank for New York City, City Harvest, Rethink Food, and many others have been leading the charge in food rescue and redistribution—serving as the backbone of emergency food access in countless communities. The city also established the Mayor’s Office of Food Policy and has a host of impressive policy experts working to transform the city’s approach to food systems.

Let’s not forget the thousands of smaller, community-based groups that are doing equally important work across the city. Think of churches, food pantries, community fridges, senior centers, afterschool programs, and other local organizations that humbly and consistently provide food access to their neighbors. Many of these groups are volunteer-run with limited capacity, but the one thing they all have in common is their deep, unwavering dedication to ensuring that no one in their community goes hungry. These groups, large and small, have collectively laid the groundwork for a citywide effort to make food more accessible, demonstrating what’s possible through collective action and alignment.

Concurrently, New York is also home to the world's largest produce terminal, Hunts Point Produce Market in the Bronx, a critical point in the city’s supply chain that provides more than 60% of all the city's fresh groceries—worth about $2 billion a year (Bloomberg). When unsold or surplus food remains, the ideal outcome is that it’s donated to food banks and charitable organizations, where it can be repurposed to feed those in need. For years, hunger relief organizations have worked tirelessly to capture as much fresh produce from generous produce houses at Hunts Point for their communities as they can while undertaking a heavy logistical burden that comes with rescuing and redistributing food. For those unfamiliar, “food rescue” is an extremely difficult and time-sensitive activity. The entire process is reactive to whatever donations arise, requiring the on-demand pick-up and delivery of donations to communities in need while it is still fresh. From start to finish a food rescue organization is responsible for sourcing, managing relationships, transporting product with fleets of vehicles, meticulously tracking data and oftentimes may need to glean or sort out any product that is too-far-gone. 

Despite the dedicated efforts of many organizations, millions of pounds of edible produce at Hunts Point were still being left behind, largely due to capacity constraints in handling the sheer volume of donations—especially produce that requires sorting. This has led to unfortunate food waste, with edible surplus being sent to landfills, while community organizations, already working tirelessly to provide equitable food access, have been stretched thin trying to rescue what they can. Instead of focusing on reaching vulnerable communities, these groups have found themselves managing the complex logistics of sourcing, trucking, sorting, and packing. There was a clear need– a dedicated, streamlined system within Hunts Point to take on these tasks, freeing up New York City community organizations to better focus on their core missions of feeding communities. 

That’s why Sharing Excess exists. Our nonprofit’s mission is to support food businesses and hunger relief networks by handling the challenging logistics of food rescue, making sure all surplus food is easily made available for donation rather than the landfill. Thanks to S. Katzman Produce, we were able to bring this solution to life at Hunts Point. They believed in our mission and generously donated warehouse space from their operation to enable Sharing Excess to launch in the market. Our process at Hunts Point is simple yet effective: we are on-site five days a week working to accept produce donations, sort through them, repack them, and load them onto trucks for direct delivery to hunger relief organizations. Each day we ensure all available food donations are distributed to hunger relief organizations and  communities in need. 

Our presence on-site makes a big difference for wholesale market operations because we are available at any time to accept donations and quickly redirect them directly to food banks and community organizations. Over the last three years, we have effectively implemented this model in two major produce markets, Philadelphia and New York, pioneering a streamlined system for surplus food donations at the wholesale level. We have a unique focus on sorting and gleaning produce to maximize the amount of food rescued from each case of produce. By doing so, we are able to procure more food donations than ever while enabling food banks and community groups to dedicate their efforts and budgets to breaking the cycle of poverty and providing impactful social services.

Our motivation for Sharing Excess is clear— despite the strong efforts to rescue food, a substantial gap still exists: billions of pounds of food go to waste nationally while countless individuals and families remain hungry. According to the United Nations, 40% of all food produced in America is wasted, with 13.2% lost between harvest and retail and an additional 19% wasted at the household, food service, and retail levels. In New York City, the National Resources Defense Council reports that 68% of discarded food is still edible, with 24% coming from restaurants, caterers, healthcare settings, educational institutions, grocery stores, markets, and food manufacturers.

The issue of food waste is not just a moral one—it represents a significant economic problem, costing the U.S. over $400 billion annually. Waste at any point in the supply chain, from production to consumption, highlights inefficiencies that drive up costs and jeopardize food security. 

At Sharing Excess, we believe that by partnering with New York’s leading hunger relief organizations, and by leveraging our expertise in logistics, we can reduce food waste and efficiently redirect resources to fight hunger and keep food out of landfills. Currently, we work directly with food donors to rescue and redistribute over 1 million pounds of food each week. This food is then distributed to a network of over 1,000 food banks and community organizations, including schools, pantries, churches, and more. Our efforts are powered by in-house technology that tracks every step of the process, from the pounds and types of food rescued to the economic value provided and the greenhouse gas emissions prevented. At the heart of our work is radical collaboration—because no one organization can tackle these issues alone. It takes committed partners across every sector and true teamwork to make a lasting impact on hunger and food waste.

Our success in Philadelphia has shown us what’s possible when we focus on efficiency and collaboration. In just three years, we’ve rescued over 20 million pounds of produce from the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market, reducing the market’s organic waste by over 60%, saving the market millions of dollars in waste costs, while feeding millions of people in the process. Now, with the backing of the philanthropic community, we’re poised to replicate this impact in New York City. In just under a year, we’ve already rescued 8 million pounds of produce from Hunts Point, and we’re just getting started. We are determined to replicate and exceed our success in the Philadelphia market, ensuring New York benefits from the same innovative solutions.

We truly believe that eliminating commercial food waste is possible through the combined efforts of individuals, businesses, and governments. By adopting new practices, fostering robust partnerships, and leveraging technology, we can make more efficient use of food resources, feed those in need, and reduce harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing food waste is essential for sustainable resource use, minimizing environmental impact, and improving food security. As we honor Hunger Action Month, let us embrace collaboration, innovation, and a renewed commitment to ending hunger and food waste together.