Saving food from waste by the truckload
City's largest hunger-relief agencies partner with trucking association on website that directs drivers to food banks
That big rig you pass on the highway might be loaded with enough food to feed hundreds of families in need. But sometimes its contents end up in the local landfill.
Now, a new website will help truckers in Indiana redirect freight that had been rejected by local grocers and distributors and get it into the mouths of hungry Hoosiers.
IndyFoodDrop.org was launched last week through a partnership of the Indiana Motor Truck Association with Gleaners Food Bank, Midwest Food Bank, Second Helpings and St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry.
John Whitaker, executive director of Midwest Food Bank in Indianapolis, said the food is perfectly fit to be eaten.
We're talking about lettuce with misshapen leaves or a duplicate order of thousands of pounds of bananas, he said.
"The goal of IndyFoodDrop.org is to work specifically with the transportation side of the supply chain to take food that might otherwise go to waste and get it out to hungry Hoosiers in need," he said.
Truckers have stopped at Midwest Food Bank in the past with loads of perfectly good produce that were rejected by a grocery chain or other food distributors because of a blemish here or there. One pallet of produce might have been damaged during shipment, but receiving warehouses will turn away the entire truckload.
One driver had 36,000 pounds of "beautiful" romaine lettuce that was rejected because a few bags contained leaves that grew "crooked," said Whitaker, who gladly accepted the produce.
"He was going to have to dump it because he said he loses $1,000 a day when he's not moving," Whitaker said.
Insurance typically covers the freight, so the food owner doesn't object to it being donated.
Whitaker approached the Indy Hunger Network with his idea for a website that would make it easier for truckers to donate their freight. IHN partners pitched in $10,000 to launch the site, an investment that will be more than recouped with the first donated truckload, Whitaker said.
Barb Hunt, vice president of the trucking association, said her organization is leading the charge among trucking companies to create awareness of the website, making it easier for drivers to drop food where it can do the most good.
When food gets rejected at delivery, the driver is caught between the shipper and receiver. He or she often has to make multiple calls to find a way to unload the freight quickly and get back on the road.
"Their challenge is to find a place to get rid of it. This network (IndyFoodDrop) brings a lot of people together and creates an easy avenue for truck drivers so they can keep moving."
Neither she nor Whitaker could estimate how many truckloads of food end up going to waste locally, but the USDA estimates that 30 to 40 percent of the nation's food supply is wasted, equaling more than 20 pounds of food per person per month.
Meanwhile, Gleaners reports there are nearly 174,000 food-insecure people in Marion County, and 1 in 6 Hoosiers experience true hunger regularly.
Indiana is perfectly situated to help address the problem, Hunt said.
"We're the crossroads of America. Up to a million trucks go through the state every day. We're saying, 'We'll get your freight off quickly and use it to feed the hungry.' "
Drivers can click on the website to find where each participating food bank or pantry is located, as well as the types of food it can accept. They will receive help unloading their truck, a tax-deductible receipt and the benefit of knowing they are helping the hungry through a coordinated food recovery effort, the partner organizations said.
For Whitaker, the idea was a no-brainer for food organizations always struggling to fill their warehouse shelves.
The result is "a beautiful collaborative effort" that will benefit the hungry in Indianapolis and — he hopes — will be rolled out throughout Indiana within a year, then replicated in other states.
Already, he said, the four partner food banks in total receive four to five semi loads of donated food a week unsolicited. "I would think this would allow us to receive on average another semi a day. That would be a real success story."
Call IndyStar reporter Maureen Gilmer at (317) 444-6879. Follow her on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.