Food Forward® fights hunger and prevents food waste by rescuing fresh surplus produce, connecting this abundance with people experiencing food insecurity, and inspiring others to do the same. Food Forward was founded in 2009 and this year marks the organization’s 15th anniversary. That’s 15 years of Building Generational Health, growing to become the largest independent produce reclamation and urban gleaning organization in the nation devoted exclusively to bringing healthy fresh produce to communities experiencing food and nutrition insecurity.
Food Forward® has three award-winning food recovery programs, two of which are volunteer-powered! 100% of the produce we recover is donated directly to our partner hunger relief organizations, free of charge. All produce donors receive a receipt for their in-kind donations.
Backyard Harvest: Volunteers harvest surplus fruit from trees that would otherwise go to waste. We harvest trees across Los Angeles, Ventura, and small sections of Santa Barbara counties. Sign up to volunteer!
Farmers Market Recovery: Volunteers "glean"—meaning Food Forward collects surplus fruit and vegetables—from 16 farmers markets across Los Angeles and Ventura counties. Market vendors can choose to donate any produce at the peak of its freshness that may not make it to the next market they attend. Fun fact: Food Forward® has gleaned the Mar Vista Farmers Market since 2013. In 2023 alone, our volunteers recovered over 34,000 pounds of produce from this market that would have otherwise gone to waste!
Sign up to volunteer! You can glean the Mar Vista Farmers Market with Food Forward® on Sundays from 1:30-3:30 p.m. or volunteer at another market.
Wholesale Recovery: The Wholesale Produce Recovery refrigerated warehouse located in Bell, California is the hub for tens of thousands of pounds of daily surplus produce donations from the Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market in Los Angeles, its surrounding district, and from growers and shippers across the region and the country. Food Forward’s Wholesale Recovery Program provides a sustainable solution to avoid the loss of perfectly edible produce being thrown away, often due to not meeting cosmetic standards or changes in demand. Instead, this nutritious surplus is redirected to hundreds of hunger relief organizations across Southern California and the surrounding region, ranging from regional food banks to community-based service centers for people experiencing food insecurity.
A volunteer gleans the Mar Vista Farmers Market in October 2023
Photo credit: Eron Rauch
A volunteer harvests lemons
Photo credit: Jeffery Dawson
A vendor at the Mar Vista Farmers Market donates surplus produce to Food Forward in October 2023
Photo credit: Eron Rauch
In addition to volunteering, there are other ways to join our work:
Follow us on social media for tips on reducing food waste at home, highlights of our fruit donors, and more fruitful fun!
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