Food Salvage & Recovery

Over the years, our food salvage operation has evolved into the sorting and distribution operation that it is today. On a daily basis, we receive donated produce from grocery stores, produce wholesalers, restaurants, food industry suppliers, farmers and other sources. Unfortunately, we receive a limited amount of product on a daily basis; there is always a need for more. In addition, the product we receive is often over-ripe and only days away from spoiling beyond human consumption.

 

In the near future, and as our funding allows, we hope to be in a position where we can purchase discounted produce in bulk to use in our operations, instead of having to rely entirely on the donated produce as we do today.

 

Once the produce arrives at our warehouse, our vocational training program participants sort it to ensure that we are only distributing the highest-quality produce from the salvage product we receive. There are three sorting lines in our food processing center set up with conveyor systems and packaging operations. As the good produce is manually sorted away from the bad, it is packaged into 3- to 5-pound plastic bags, labeled accordingly and sent to our Farm Market for distribution to the more than 155 hunger relief agencies that we serve.

 

It's our way of providing food with dignity to those in need.

 

Our food salvage and processing operation also includes a vegetable soup that we produce from the donated product. Each week, select vegetables are processed at our facility and then delivered to Ready Foods, where the ingredients are mixed with a broth and made into a healthy vegetable soup. The end product is delivered back to us and distributed through our Farm Market program.

 

The waste product that is not fit for human consumption is delivered to a local pig farmer and naturally cycled back into the circle of life.