ESCONDIDO, Calif. — It’s often a race against time when it comes to connecting donated food to people in need around San Diego. Nutrient-rich food that doesn’t have a long shelf life needs to be distributed as quickly as possible before going bad.
Lucky for many, new technology and new laws are helping to speed up that process. Now, Feeding San Diego is looking for volunteer drivers to encourage the change.
CBS 8 has covered the impact of SB 1383, which required grocers and many other organizations that serve food to donate leftover edible food before throwing it away. The change not only increases the amount of food going to local food banks, but also reduces greenhouse gas emissions from the rotting of food in landfills.
Dan Lachenbruch is a retired firefighter and now a volunteer driver with Feeding San Diego, but not in the way you might expect. Every Tuesday you’ll find him driving an orange Feeding San Diego van around the county to grocery stores. There, he gathers donations of surplus food from SB 1383.
It might sound typical, but new technology implemented by Feeding America is helping decentralize the process so Lachenbruch can take that food directly from the grocery store to an organization that will distribute it – skipping over a central warehouse.
"One out of four kids in the United States goes to bed hungry," Lachenbruch told CBS 8. "And we're throwing away 40 percent of our food? There's just got to be a better way. I just feel like we can all do something extra to help out."
Feeding America developed the MealConnect app to help make that process easier, too. Businesses with a surplus of food can let the nonprofit know of what they have available, and volunteer drivers can pick up the food and bring it directly to a partner organization that’s able to distribute it.
This process also ensures edible, nutrient-rich food reaches people all across the county, whether it be North County, South Bay, or East County.
CBS 8 rode along with Dan as the food was being brought directly to Raw Ruth Anointed World Ministries in Escondido for a distribution set for the next day. Peggy Franklin is their Director of Food Distribution and is tasked with ensuring everyone has a balanced distribution of food.
Franklin said the number of families coming out each week continues to grow, and they come from across the county. It's why volunteers like Lachenbruch are so needed.
"I see what I have here, and I know what I have to get to provide for at least 200 to 300 families," Franklin said. "To be able to feed these families, it's amazing that we're able to do this along with the help of Feeding San Diego and other agencies that we work with. We wouldn't be able to do this."
The surplus food from grocery chains accounts for 76% of the food Feeding San Diego distributes. They say that adds up to about 1.2 million pounds of food rescued every month.
Beyond feeding hungry San Diegans, this makes an impact on the environment. All this food would traditionally go to landfills, emitting methane gas as it rots, hurting the planet.
"It would have been nice to get started a long time ago," added Lachenbruch. "I'm not super proud of what my generation has done."
But the roster of volunteer drivers is low for Feeding San Diego, and that’s where they could use your help. They need more volunteers to commit to recurring food pickups or even sporadic pickups as needed. You can go to their website, feedingsandiego.org for more on how to volunteer.
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