S
an Diego seems
like an affluent city;
however, many
residents struggle
to make ends meet
with the rising cost
of living. As a result,
1 in 8 people living
in San Diego are
considered food
insecure, including 1
in 6 children. Vince
Hall, CEO of Feeding
San Diego, and his
team are working
to solve hunger in
the local community
by rescuing and
redistributing food
that would have
otherwise gone to
waste.
“Turning to the food
rescue model solves
two problems at once and they are two problems we cannot
afford to ignore any longer,” says Hall.
In the United States, 40% of all food goes to waste every
day. Resources including water, farmland and labor are
spent producing food that ends up in landfills. Of all the food
distributed by Feeding San Diego, 97% has been rescued and
would otherwise go to landfills.
“You look in those food donation boxes and you know what you
see? You see a lot of canned and boxed food, a lot of sodium,
salt, sugar and carbs,” Hall shared with GB Magazine. “When
you look out the back door of the grocery stores, you see,
going to the landfill, thousands of pounds of dairy, proteins like
chicken, meat, fish, and fresh produce.” Feeding San Diego
rescues high-quality food before it goes to waste and gets it into
the hands of those who need it.
Feeding San
Diego keeps
fresh food local
by connecting
food directly from
their partners
to community
members. By
establishing
over 500 rescue
locations across
the county, the
organization has
decentralized
the distribution
model. This
decentralization
means reducing
the need to travel
great distances,
receiving
perishable foods
sooner and
increasing the
model’s cost
scalability.
Vince Hall supporting the U.S. Coast Guard
during the recent government shutdown
Hall credits the
hardworking
people at Feeding
San Diego, the board and partners across San Diego County for
continually improving and innovating the food rescue model as
they strive to increase the amount of meals provided by Feeding
San Diego from 26 million to the 65 million needed to end
hunger in San Diego.
“Taking a food rescue approach to hunger-relief is not only great
for people struggling with hunger, it’s great for the environment,
it’s great for the taxpayer and it’s great for the future of our
country,” says Hall.
Feeding San Diego is 95% privately philanthropy funded, and
every dollar donated helps provide 4 nutritious meals. For more
information go to www.feedingsandiego.org.
OCTOBER 2019 | GBSAN.COM 47