Food Rescue Program

Through our primary activity of food rescue, The Food Drive recovers food that would have been wasted at commercial sources and delivers it at no cost to pantries, low-income housing, and other recipients - literally driving food from the point of potential waste to the point of need. In addition to our own city of Melrose, we serve Everett, Lynn, Malden, Medford, Reading, Revere, Saugus, Stoneham, Wakefield, and Woburn. Our focus is providing the fresh, nutritious food that is vital for good health and can be prohibitively expensive and in short supply at food pantries.

Communities often lack the organization, infrastructure, and transportation necessary to connect surplus food with those who need it most; consequently 35% of food in the United States goes to waste. Research by the Food Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School shows that reducing food waste by one third could feed all the food-insecure people in the United States, and food rescue provides a community-based, practical solution to meet this need.

Food waste is defined as uneaten food that ends up being landfilled, or otherwise disposed of rather than eaten. Some surplus food is inevitable, but the goal of food rescue is both to keep food out of landfills and to make sure food is going to its “highest and best use” – that is, being eaten by people, according to ReFED, a national nonprofit dedicated to ending food loss.

Food insecurity is an ongoing challenge in our region, and The Food Drive sees this in real time in our daily deliveries. Our neighbors who struggle with hunger face numerous barriers to reliable food access: unemployment or low-paying jobs, discrimination, mobility, disability, health conditions, transportation, stigma, logistics and, recently, the effects of the pandemic and inflation.

Food rescue meets the dual challenges of food insecurity and food waste with one solution: providing the missing logistical link between our food donors - grocery stores, restaurants, specialty shops, farms, cafes, bakeries, and community events, and our recipients - food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, senior centers and teen centers, community meal programs, low-income housing residences, and individuals with immediate needs. We provide a regular pickup schedule for each donor site, pack and load food from loading docks and back doors, pre-determine the best recipient location, and deliver directly from the pickup point to the destination. Food is in our vehicles roughly the same amount of time as a trip to the grocery store.

Our rescues provide significant benefit for our recipients because the food we deliver is free of charge, thereby reducing their operating costs. The more food we provide, the more recipients reap these benefits. In addition, The Food Drive monitors the unique circumstances of each site, tracks use of food after delivery, and adjusts accordingly. As stated by our mentor organization, Boulder Food Rescue: “Without input from community members on their needs, an entire half of the equation is missing.”

Our neighbors should not wonder where their next meal is coming from when so much unused food is readily available.