Our Food Redistribution Program is about getting excess food that would otherwise be wasted to communities who can utilize it that day. This is our main direct service program. It ensures that communities have enough to eat, minimizes barriers to accessing food, gets fresh produce (that is somewhat limited at pantries) directly to people, and supports the food security of over 6,000 people in Boulder. 

How it Works

Step 1: We coordinate with 20+ food donors to donate produce and other soon-to-expire or overstocked food.

Step 2: Our donors load this food into boxes and set them aside for our courier volunteers to pick up and sort.

Step 3: Couriers load the donated food into bike trailers or their cars and haul it to one of our 36 No Cost Grocery Program sites or other recipient sites that is scheduled to receive it.

Step 4: Our  sites – including No Cost Grocery Programs at affordable housing, shelters, daycares and preschools, communities and other gathering places – use the donated food within 24-48 hours. About 2/3 of these sites are No Cost Grocery Programs, and these communities facilitate their own food redistribution and create systems to bypass barriers to food access.

QUICK FACTS:

• Our decentralized food rescue model doesn’t require storage, allowing us to deliver fresh food directly to our recipient sites.
• By delivering food using bicycles, we have developed a sustainable food rescue model that is quick, economical, and gentle on the environment.
• In addition to delivering food to recipient sites, we also work with residential volunteers to help them set up No Cost Grocery Programs. These Grocery Program Coordinators live at low income housing sites, senior centers, or work at after-school programs and preschools. By enabling them to direct their own systems for distribution, they actualize their own food access security.

Our Partners In This Work:

Our team of 150+ volunteers distributes an average of 1,600 pounds of produce daily to a number of different places, and we could not do it without our partners. 

These recipient sites include 31 No-Cost Grocery Programs at low-income housing sites, schools, and daycares. This program encourages resident leaders to distribute food in their own communities and creates participatory systems that bypass barriers to food access.

Funders

Thank you to our grant funders and individual donors that make this work possible!