Food Forward expands Wholesale Produce Recovery, establishes rapid relief food hubs, and rescues local produce with the help of solo volunteering.
VENTURA COUNTY — COVID-19 is having a severe impact on the country’s food supply and demand. At the same time, the unemployment rate is skyrocketing, driving more people to seek first-time food assistance than ever before. Southern California-based produce recovery nonprofit Food Forward is stepping up to meet the need in Ventura County during this crucial time.
Hunger relief agencies across the county have reported up to a 4x increase in attendance at food distributions. Simultaneously, in the three months since California’s Stay-at-Home order was put into effect, Food Forward has experienced a surge in produce donations through its Wholesale Recovery Program due to the closure of restaurants, schools, and other large-scale buyers. Through this increase in donations and a pilot initiative by the USDA, the Farmers to Families Program, Food Forward has been able to double the amount of fresh produce it distributes on a weekly basis.
To connect this produce with people currently experiencing food insecurity, Food Forward has expanded emergency food hubs in Ventura County, where truckloads of mixed varieties of produce are distributed to several local hunger relief agencies. In partnership with Totally Local VC’s Local Love Project, Food Forward’s newly established Ventura food hub serves up to 18 agencies every Wednesday with free fresh fruits and vegetables.
Additionally, Food Forward and Simi at the Garden have expanded the Simi Valley Produce Pick-Up to distribute more produce and increased the frequency to weekly, rather than monthly. Over 300 families now receive fresh fruits and vegetables every week at this completely free drive-through distribution that is open to the public. The event also acts as a food hub, distributing produce to ten hunger relief agencies.
Beyond these new and expanded initiatives, Food Forward continues to supply dozens of hunger relief agencies throughout Ventura County with regular donations of fresh fruits and vegetables. Although community volunteer events are paused for the time being, trained volunteer Event Leaders continue to collect fruits and vegetables from local fruit trees and farmers markets in a solo capacity with new safety protocols in place. During this time of limited harvesting, many community members with fruit trees have stepped up pick and donate their surplus fruit at “DIY harvests.”
Since 2009, Food Forward has addressed the dual issues of food waste and food insecurity with one simple solution: connecting produce that would otherwise be wasted with people who lack access to fresh foods. With the help of over a thousand volunteers every year, Food Forward collects fresh fruits and vegetables from fruit trees and Farmers Markets across Ventura County and donates this abundance to hunger relief organizations serving our communities.
About Food Forward — Food Forward (501(c)(3)) fights hunger and prevents food waste by rescuing fresh, surplus produce, connecting this abundance with people in need and inspiring others to do the same. Fruits and vegetables are collected from backyard fruit trees, public orchards, farmers markets, and the downtown Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Terminal. 100% of the recovered produce is donated to hunger relief agencies across eight counties in Southern California. The organization has won four consecutive Food Recovery Challenge awards from the U.S. EPA (2015-18) for its work to prevent and reduce food waste.