08/10/2020
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Through its Zero Hunger | Zero Waste plan, Kroger is committed to creating communities free of hunger and waste. We join them in honoring those who do just that.
Meet David Frease, Procurement & Sustainability Manager at The Nashville Food Project.
I work with local grocery stores, farms, restaurants and other nonprofits to keep food from being thrown away and get it into the hands of the people who need it. We usually collect around 2,000-3,000 lbs of food a week, but that number can vary depending on what opportunities arise. For example, TNFP was the recipient of all the products on display at the TN Meat Conference back in March, right before lockdown started. With the help of many volunteers and our friends at One Generation Away, we recovered 28,000 lbs of premium proteins that would have otherwise been sent to the landfill.
The bulk of our donations are fruits and vegetables or pantry items, while protein has been notoriously difficult for us to source in the past. Thankfully, Porter Road Butcher has so generously brought us 100 lbs of ground beef every week over the last few months. Having that kind of dependable donation has freed up our staff to focus more on the 3,000-5,000 meals we make weekly, now that we know we have a steady source of protein.
Hunger is a solvable problem. It's been estimated that 40% of the food produced in the U.S. ends up in the landfill while, at the same time, 1 in 7 children are struggling with hunger. That math doesn't add up. Sending large quantities of edible food to the trash because it doesn't look perfect, is nearing expiration or the packaging is a little dented is the very definition of waste — especially when you consider how much labor, land, time, energy and resources went into producing it.
If there's any silver lining to this whole pandemic, it's that we've realized people can change and adapt far quicker than we imagined. There doesn't have to be a "we vow to end hunger in Nashville by 2030" timeline. We can fix it within a year if we make it a priority.
📸: Leila Grossman
