In Northeastern North Carolina, there are over 43,000 of our neighbors who are food insecure. Meanwhile, nationwide, billions of pounds of perfectly good food is thrown away. Along with Feeding America, Food Bank of the Albemarle is working to help rescue this food grown in our region and get it onto the plates of our neighbors.

How Food Rescue Works

Throughout the 15 counties we serve in our region, we are connected with our retail partners, farms, and public donations to help save this food. Each year Food Bank of the Albemarle is able to provide millions of meals across our network of 100 partners, which means everyone has access to nutritious and healthy food and there is less food waste.

Food waste statistics in the US

According to Feeding America:

• An estimated 92 billion pounds of food goes to waste each year.
• 38% of all food goes unsold or uneaten.
• 145 billion meals’ worth of food goes to landfills.
• 51.7% of waste comes from the food industry.

What exactly is, Food Waste?

Any food that is perfectly good and safe-to-eat but gets thrown away instead of eaten is considered wasted food. It can happen anywhere from your home (buying food that you don’t eat, and it goes bad or expires), grocery stores that are unable to sell certain products before their expiration, or farms that discard produce because of market conditions or unsellable product.

Growing food requires a lot of water, fuel, fertilizer, and time. If we can take steps to lessen our impact, rescue more food, and waste less, it’s overall better for the environment and it means that more food can reach people who are hungry!

Want to learn more about how the Food Bank works to rescue food in your community? Contact us today for a tour or to speak with your group!

Contact:
Brian Gray, Communications Manager
252-335-4035, ext. 113
brgray@afoodbank.org