Minimizing Waste While Feeding the Hungry

During this Thanksgiving season, as many of us focus on counting our blessings and feeling gratitude, several organizations are working to help raise money and donations for the 44 million Americans, including 13 million children, who are food insecure. Here in Georgia, 1 in 8 people are experiencing hunger. Compounding that is the fact that some 78 million tons of food end up in landfills nationwide each year, according to the nonprofit ReFED.

One program that has been making a difference since 2012 is Chick-fil-A’s Shared Table. Through the initiative, more than 2,200 of the chain’s restaurants throughout the U.S. and Canada donate surplus food to charitable organizations in their community.

So now, leftover chicken, biscuits, fries and fruit cups are packed up and refrigerated and then taken to nonprofits to repurpose it for those in need. So far, it has provided more than 30 million meals and diverted nearly 39 million pounds of food waste from going in the trash. That well exceeds its 2020 goal of diverting 25 million pounds of waste by 2025.

Among the 1,200 nonprofits that work with Shared Table are senior centers, soup kitchens and after-school programs. In Metro Atlanta, the group Second Helpings has 400 volunteers that get the food from the restaurants and deliver it to shelters, churches and food pantries. Once there, the charities can serve the sandwiches and biscuits as prepared, or reassemble ingredients to create new meals, like nugget fried rice or frittatas made with waffle fries. Chick-fil-A also donates $25,000 to Feeding America, or Second Harvest in Canada, every time a new restaurant opens.