Food rescue gets surplus food to people in need

Each year in the U.S., 63 million tons of food are wasted, representing around 15% of the total waste generated.

In Hennepin County, we know from waste sorts that 20% of our trash is food. On average, 3.5 pounds of food are wasted per person per week. Of that waste, two-thirds is potentially edible.

As a leader in waste management, the county is focusing on reducing food waste. It’s one of the single most effective solutions to address climate change.

Using the food we have helps people and the planet

Wasting food has upstream climate impacts.

When we waste food, we waste the energy used to grow, produce, transport, and store food products. Food sent to landfills creates methane, a powerful greenhouse gas and driver of climate change. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found that food waste in landfills contributes more methane emissions than any other landfilled materials.  

According to Project Drawdown, reducing food waste has the potential to draw as much as 94 gigatons of carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere.

What the county is doing

Hennepin County conducted research in 2022 to understand the food rescue system in the county. This research included interviews, focus groups, and surveys with organizations involved in the food rescue system and community members who have experienced food insecurity.

Goals were to identify gaps and opportunities to divert more food to people that would otherwise go to waste and increase the food rescue system’s responsiveness to community needs for both highly nutritious and culturally significant food.

Key learnings

• Intentionally aligned partnerships between donor organizations and food rescue organizations are fundamental to the success of food rescue efforts.
• Although intermediary organizations are key to the current food rescue system, food security organizations have complex and mixed experiences partnering with these organizations.
• Staffing and labor are a significant challenge in the food rescue ecosystem.
• Supply chain and transportation logistics continue to pose a significant challenge to ensuring the safety and quality of rescued food.
• The experiences of community members underscore the need for innovation across the food rescue ecosystem.
• Adequate finances and appropriate donations across the food rescue stream are key to the ability to participate in food rescue and meet community members’ needs.
• Creative adaptations made in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and 2020 social uprising identified promising strategies to improve food rescue efforts.

Recommendations for Hennepin County

In the transition to an equitable, zero-waste future, Hennepin County is poised to have a meaningful and transformative impact on the food rescue system. Through engagement and analysis, 14 strategies were identified for the county to pursue to ensure this impact. These strategies fit into the following recommendations:

• Expand on-the-ground support for donor organizations to operationalize and improve food rescue efforts in their organizations.
• Establish internal and external collaborations focused on continuous improvement of food rescue and county supports.
• Leverage data to promote food rescue efforts and identify system-wide improvement opportunities.
• Work with food rescue and security partners to implement creative and innovative strategies to enhance food rescue efforts and community impacts.
• Embed disparity reduction and racial equity throughout the design and implementation of county strategies.

Read the food rescue in Hennepin County report (PDF).

Supporting food rescue

Food recovery grants

To support and expand the food rescue system, Hennepin County offers food recovery grants. The following emergency food organizations received funding for 2025:

• CROSS serving Rogers and northwest Hennepin County: Expand collection capacity by funding labor and food to pick up food  and a new freezer/cooler.
• FreedomWorks Inc. serving north Minneapolis: Expand recovery of prepared food and their food preservation program.
• Joyce Uptown Food Shelf serving Uptown Minneapolis: Expand food rescue from grocery stores.
• Loaves & Fishes Too serving south Minneapolis, New Hope, Bloomington, Hopkins, Richfield: Expand food recovery, create more efficient collection routes, and purchase a vehicle.
• NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center, Inc. serving north Minneapolis: Increase recovery to meet growing demand by funding labor and fuel, repairs to coolers, and better tracking software.
• People Reaching Out to Other People, Inc. serving Eden Prairie: Expand recovery and redistribution of prepared food by funding labor, temperature control equipment for vehicles, and upgraded storage coolers and freezers.
• PRISM serving Golden Valley, south Minneapolis , Minnetonka, Plymouth: Expand recovery at four food shelves by funding labor, fuel, and strategic planning.
• Sisters' Camelot serving south and northeast Minneapolis: Expand recovery by funding a vehicle, fuel, and packing supplies.
• St. Louis Park Emergency Program, Inc. serving St. Louis Park: Expand current recovery and delivery to other food shelves by funding a walk-in freezer and vehicle.
• The Sannah Foundation serving south Minneapolis: Funding will be used to expand current recovery and delivery to other food shelves and will include a walk-in freezer and vehicle.
• TC food Justice, Inc. operating mostly in Minneapolis: Increase culturally specific donations by fundingor, a refrigerated vehicle, and produce-preservation equipment.
• VEAP, Inc. serving Bloomington: Expand food recovery by funding labor and fuel.

Grocery stores and restaurants

For grocery stores and restaurants, the county requires businesses that produce a certain about of trash to divert food waste to organics recycling or non-trash outlets. They are also encouraged to donate surplus food to local organizations to feed people. 

Residents

For residents, the county encourages volunteering to rescue food. Give your time to help pick up food from grocery stores or help sort rescued food at a food shelf.

• Pick up and deliver surplus food through TC Food Justice. Sign up for a reoccurring or one-time pickups.
• Help distribute rescued food at a local food shelf. Find one close to you with the food resource map.
• Create meals for those in need from rescued food with Community Kitchen or Loaves and Fishes.