Waste Not OC

About the Program

Category: Health (Best in Category)

Year: 2015

A total of 50.1 million people nationwide are food insecure. In Orange County, CA one in five children face food insecurity on any given day. To address this growing social problem, a coalition of food banks, health care representatives, restaurants, food distributors, and community leaders in November 2012, formed the Waste Not OC Coalition -- a public-private partnership connected with the goal of eliminating hunger and reducing food waste by facilitating the donation of wholesome surplus food from food-producing facilities to local pantries. Since 2012, the coalition has increased visibility of food pantries in Orange County, raised awareness of the need for food donations among business owners, provided education to businesses on food donation, and empowered clinicians to refer their patients to food sources using an interactive Google map of nearby food pantries. The fight to end hunger is often perceived as a problem that is too big and too overwhelming for one community to handle. However, Waste Not OC fills the gap between available food resources and those suffering from hunger by bringing together agencies, which previously had limited interaction, to work together with community members to “feed the need.”