The Feed

Food waste and hunger are immense problems rooted in a complex web of issues. How can anyone begin to understand the problem enough to make an impact? A good book is a pretty good place to start!

We have compiled a list of 7 essential reads about sustainability, food waste, and hunger that will help you feel like an expert. With one or two of these in your belt, you will soon be better equipped to be an agent of change in your community.

After reading up and getting inspired, check out ways to get involved!

An Almost Zero Waste Life: Learning How to Embrace Less to Live More 

If you have been looking for ways to waste less at home, Megean Weldon put together a gorgeous how-to novel for ways to make your habits more sustainable. Tips, strategies, recipes, and DIYs guide you through realistically attainable habits that produce real results. Oftentimes the zero-waste movement can seem overwhelming to anyone interested in making the lifestyle shift, so Weldon organized these ideas in a way that is digestible to anyone.

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate

Naomi Klein is on a mission to debunk the myth that carbon is the biggest environmental problem. If we want to impact climate change, we as a society need to look at the real root of the issues: capitalism. Klein takes an optimistic approach as to how quickly circumstances can change by acknowledging the broken relationship between the economy and ecology. Greed and growth is what lead to the damages done by corporations, but in the examples of where change has been made the success stories are surprising and encouraging. 

Growing a Revolution: Bringing Our Soil Back To Life

For centuries, our agricultural practices have eroded topsoil and stripped it of its nutrients. Geologist David R. Montgomery travels the world in an attempt to regenerate the uppermost layer of the planet. Ditching the plow, planting cover crops, and growing a diversity of crops is how he plans to help local farmers feed their community, guard the planet, and bring profitability back to non-industrial farms. 

Cooking with Scraps: Turn Your Peels, Cores, Rinds, and Stems into Delicious Meals

We talk often about ways to reduce waste in your own home, but it can be difficult to know where to start. This cookbook is an all-encompassing reference guide for what to do with all of the little bits of food you tend to throw away when you cook. You might not make a whole meal out of kale stems, but there are some amazing dips and garnishes you can try! With some guidance from Lindsay-Jean Hard, your kitchen can be more efficient, and more creative!

Growing Up Empty: How Federal Policies Are Starving America’s Children

With 20 years of impressive investigative journalism and a truly empathetic approach, Loretta Schwartz-Nobel uncovers how hunger still exists in the US as a result of repeated abandonment by local and federal governments. For years the problem of hunger has only gotten worse, and the issue remains a silent epidemic unacknowledged by even the most respected seats in office. Scwartz-Nobel dives into how hunger impacts every demographic, regardless of race, age, location, or religion, and the endless cycles of impoverishment and hunger that trap countless Americans each year.

Braiding Sweetgrass 

As a botanist and a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Robin Wall Kimmerer writes about environmentalism with an entirely unique perspective. She respects plants and animals as our oldest teachers of the scientific world and as guides for how to solve current issues. By understanding the interconnectedness of nature we can learn how our actions as humans have an impact on the natural systems of the entire world. Kimmerer writes with a scientific reverence that encourages ecological consciousness in an enchanting way. 

Legacies of Dust: Land Use and Labor on the Colorado Plains

This novel by Douglas Sheflin of Colorado State University is for our history buffs. In the 1930s, when the rain stopped and the fields dried out, Southern Coloradan farmers faced one of the worst ecological disasters in American history. The inability to farm coupled with the Great Depression forced agriculturalists to completely reinvent how they operated. With local initiative, federal support, and a passionate team of conservationists, Southern Colorado’s agricultural economy was rebuilt and transformed. We can look back on these events for renewed perspective on what we face today if we can’t solve mass desertification. 

As many of you may know, our Director of Programs & Operations, Aubree Pierce, is a fantastic person with an incredible amount of drive and passion for our mission. Since stepping into her role with We Don’t Waste she has become a pivotal part of the organization. 

This makes it all the more difficult to announce that Aubree will be leaving us for a move across the country. Her energy and charisma will be dearly missed, but our team wishes her the best for the move and for all of her future endeavors! 

Sam Talarczyk, previously one of our awesome Food Recovery Specialists, has stepped into Aubree’s shoes, taking on the role of Director of Programs & Operations. Since joining our team, Sam has been an enthusiastic and hard-working team player. He is passionate about continuing to grow and optimize the organization and we cannot wait to see what he accomplishes!

And without further ado, here’s what Aubree herself has to say about her time at We Don’t Waste:

Over the last two years, I have had the great pleasure of working at We Don’t Waste. In the summer of 2019, the previous nonprofit I worked with closed its doors, and I found myself looking for another opportunity. I had spent the previous several years working in the realm of hunger and food waste, so I was excited to see an opening for a Food Recovery Specialist at We Don’t Waste. I got to know the ins and outs of the organization and more about our partners during my six months as a Food Recovery Specialist.

Aside from managing the operations through the pandemic, I was lucky enough to serve at We Don’t Waste through a time of growth and adjustment. I was able to participate in strategic conversations to develop plans and programs for the organization to have a greater impact on the community and collaborate with partners on several projects to address hunger and food waste. I have learned so much from my time at We Don’t Waste and have so many unforgettable experiences that I will always keep with me. It is bittersweet that I am leaving my position at We Don’t Waste as I am moving to Michigan to be closer to family. I am so thankful that the leadership team at We Don’t Waste took a chance on me and I will be forever grateful for the experience and growth that I have achieved as a professional during my time at this organization. I have truly enjoyed my time working with We Don’t Waste and I am beyond thankful to the entire We Don’t Waste team, the Board of Directors, and the Denver nonprofit network for the continued support that I experienced through the pandemic and beyond. I am excited to see the organization grow and flourish in the coming years. The impact that we’ve had on the community and on the state of Colorado as a whole is astounding, and I am proud to have been a part of such an amazing organization.

With gratitude,

Aubree Pierce

Understanding the impacts of greenhouse gases is one of the most popular scientific subjects of the past decade. As an organization, We Don’t Waste frequently compares our food recovery efforts to emissions saved.

So what is methane? Known as a “super-polluter”, methane is a potent greenhouse gas. Greenhouse gases trap heat in the atmosphere and cause the overall average temperature of the planet to rise. There are several greenhouse gases, carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous Oxide (N20), and fluorinated gases. 

Many of these gases can be released by natural processes, and will continue to do so in a healthy ecosystem. What is concerning is that an estimated 60% of the greenhouse gases in our atmosphere are caused by human activities and are too rapidly increasing the quantity and density of these gases. The rate at which human activity produces these harmful gases is also expected to increase unless conscious action is taken to prevent it. 

Methane makes up approximately 10% of the amount of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere emitted by human activity, but the impact it has on the atmosphere ranges between 25 times to 86 times worse than carbon dioxide. This is because the chemical shape of methane makes it incredibly good at trapping heat.

The gas only lasts in the atmosphere for about 12 years, just a tenth of the time of carbon dioxide, but wreaks havoc while resting in the ozone. This is how methane earns it nickname, “super-polluter.”

Cutting methane emissions by nearly half within the next decade would prevent a 0.3°C rise in the average global temperature by the 2040s. This would be a necessary step in order to meet the Paris Climate agreement which aims to keep the global increase in temperature below 1.5°C.  

There are a few different ways that the gas is produced. Methane is produced in the agriculture sector as a byproduct of livestock farming, from energy and industry, and from waste that is created by homes and businesses. Waste from homes and businesses makes up the third largest source of methane emissions (created by humans), so this is where we as consumers can make the most impact.

When households and businesses discard food, the organic material rots in municipal landfills and releases methane. We can change this!

We can also advocate for industry to change and become greener. The agriculture industry can work on reducing emissions by reworking the diet of the animals through anaerobic digestion, capturing the methane as it is released, and making changes to the manure collection and disposal systems. Cows themselves makeup about 40% of all methane in the atmosphere and the increasing demand for cow products means there will be even more burps and releases. Similarly, energy and industry standards for emissions are also being scrutinized and can be made “greener.”

There are a few ways you can help at home. Check out our blog on how you can reduce waste in your household. If you can decrease the amount of waste produced by your own household it will help decrease the methane produced in your local municipal landfill, which will directly improve the air quality in your area! As you learn to integrate these habits, share the news. Your understanding of the issue is twice as effective when you share it with a friend that can help you fight climate change.

The 1.5 degrees Celsius goal is important as the data suggests that this is the cutoff before there is serious, irreversible damage done. With climate change, comes major ecological shifts, most likely resulting in a disruption of food production and major agricultural repercussions.

Populations that are already at-risk or effected by food insecurity will likely experience the brunt of the challenges caused by climate change. It is our collective responsibility to make sure that we can reduce the damage by reducing our food waste and valuing the nutritious food we produce.

We call ourselves We Don’t Waste for a reason––and that reason is because food waste central to our mission. The food that we recover is just one part of the billions of pounds of food that goes to waste every year. 40% of all food, most of which is edible and nutritious, ends up in landfills instead of a stomach. From planting to production, to making it onto a shelf in your home, food is lost in every step of the process. 

Here are some fast facts to catch you up on the situation. 

Out of the 160 billion pounds of food that is thrown out annually, about 126 billion pounds of it is edible. 

A 15% reduction in food waste would result in a year’s worth of food for 25 million people. 

The food that ends up in a landfill ends up producing methane, a greenhouse gas that is up to 87 times more potent than carbon dioxide. 

With that in mind, it is clear that this problem has an obvious solution, save the food, protect the planet, and feed people instead!

There are two main categories of food waste that can help you understand the issue further…food loss and food waste. 

Food loss occurs during food production. Bad weather, a harmful pest, and a bumpy truck can all contribute to food being damaged and thrown out. A perfectly good tangerine in an odd shape or color may be thrown out by a grocer as it would be seen as ugly by a consumer. Market interest plays a part as well. As prices shift, farmers may leave entire fields unharvested due to the cost of labor versus market prices.

Food waste occurs in the form of unused foods in restaurants, hospitals, venues, and in your home. Most of the waste occurs in households, with about 76 billion pounds of food waste coming from the remains on your plate and food that goes bad in the back of the fridge. When you chop off half of the stem of the asparagus, that also contributes to the pounds of food rotting in your local landfill. 

There are several major offenses we all tend to commit that contribute to the reasons food waste is so prevalent in homes. 

1. Food Spoilage. About two-thirds of food purchased gets thrown away due to improper storage, partial use of food, lack of visibility, and poor planning. 
2. Over preparing. Many people cook large servings of food, some of which gets thrown away, or results in leftovers that sit until they are thrown away. 
3. Date label confusion. Many Americans will throw away good food based on the “Sell-By” date. The label is used for peak quality in terms of shelf life but does not actually correlate with how long the food stays good to eat. 
4. Overbuying. Many people buy bulk foods expecting to eat it all and save some money when, many times, the food ends up spoiling before it can all be consumed. 
5. Lack of Planning. Going into the store without a plan can mean buying ingredients you won’t use, foods you don’t actually like, or too much of an ingredient before it spoils.

Luckily, all of these issues are easily solved with a little forethought. Next time you go grocery shopping, take stock of what you have in your fridge, what you actually enjoy eating, and what meals you plan to make in the future. Creating better habits to prevent food waste is one way you can make a big difference in your local environment. Check out some tips here.

The food that ends up in your municipal landfill rots and produces methane, damaging the local air quality, as well as the groundwater quality. The resulting methane from food rot accounts for about 14% of all human-produced greenhouse gas emissions. It’s not just your local environment that suffers, think of all the gallons of water and wasted energy that went into growing the food. With fresh water and arable land becoming increasingly more difficult to secure, it is a lose-lose situation for farmland as well as your own neighborhood.

The consequences of food waste and the steps to improve are clear. It’s up to all of us to make the change! Help us spread the word to your family and friends so we all have the tools to do our part to help prevent climate destruction. 

Current food waste facts sourced from Food Print.

The month of May is nearly over, which means our matching campaign is nearing its end! The PB and K Family Foundation challenged us to raise $25,000 in a month, and in return they pledged to donate the same amount if we meet our goal.

If you’ve already supported the campaign, thank you! If you are still looking for a way to help us fight summer hunger, there is still time! Together, we have raised over half of the amount, but we aren’t there yet. 

Why donate now? Food insecurity is at an all-time high. You may not have heard the phrase “summer hunger” before, but one of the toughest times for food-insecure families is summer. There are several factors that are unique to summer that can create need that was not there before, and can further increase the difficulties already experienced by many families. 

School is out! But that also means that aid provided by schools is more difficult to come by, or disappears completely. Many families see grocery costs increase dramatically as children no longer have access to free or reduced-costs meals at school. Now that the children are home as well, someone has to watch them. Daycare and camp services add on additional costs month over month.

Other factors like increasing costs for groceries are also playing a part. The Bureau of Labor Statistics showed a .6 percent increase in grocery costs in March, with a 2.6 percent increase overall within a year. This is the largest increase for grocery prices in a decade, and prices are expected to stay high due to supply-chain and distribution issues. 

All of this is multiplied by the fact that many people are still experiencing job-loss or financial difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The economic effects will likely linger with us for much longer than the virus itself as many individuals were displaced, furloughed, saw pay-cuts, and experienced any other number of challenging circumstances. 

You can help by donating now. Because of the match your donation is effectively doubled and can go twice as far in helping out Denver families this Summer. 

Commit to donate monthly! We just launched our Fork and Spoon Club, a program to reward donors who choose to commit to give to our organization once a month. It’s quick and easy to sign up, and there are fun perks to being a member! With VIP access to events, behind-the-scenes tours, and more, you can experience what our team does and see the impact your donations are making first-hand! With the match campaign your donation goes 12 times as far, as the match will donate the annualized amount of your commitment! 

Your support means that we can continue to collect fresh food that would otherwise be thrown away and redirect it to families that need the support. Our distribution network, with the aid of our partners, helps protect the planet and feed people all at the same time! The ozone is spared the greenhouse gasses of rotting food and your neighbors are given relief knowing that they have access to fresh, healthy food at no cost to themselves. It’s a win-win!

Help us finish strong with the match campaign this May and donate now! Your neighbors need you! If you’ve already given what you can, or just want to get more involved with our mission, consider volunteering! It’s a rewarding experience that supports your neighbors directly. 

Written by: Caroline Hissong, We Don’t Waste, Marketing and Communications Coordinator

This month we are excited to announce that we have launched the Fork and Spoon Club! We have always offered a monthly giving option, but decided to launch a formal program to thank our current monthly donors and to reward anyone that chooses to join from this point forward!

Why Donate Monthly?

Your donations go directly towards supporting the foundation of the organization. We recover food from our donors and distribute it to the 100+ hunger relief agencies that we’re proud to partner with, or to one of our mobile markets. 

Monthly commitments to our organization play a pivotal role in us operating year-round. Many donations are seasonal, as most donors consider giving during holidays or events, but the need for food support is always present in our community!

By choosing to continuously support us, it helps We Don’t Waste remain sustainable into the future. Because we can better predict our funds, we can better apply our resources to fight year-round food insecurity. It keeps gas in our trucks and the freezers running! A stable budget also means we can be more reactive when disasters like COVID make an immediate impact on the community. In 2020 we were able to mobilize a much more expansive program with our Mobile Food Markets because we knew that we had the support of the community. 

How do I decide what I can give?

If you have ever planned a budget, you have probably heard of the “latte effect”. That is, consider how often you go out to a cafe to get a coffee. $5 in one purchase might not seem like a large purchase at the time, but multiply that by the number of times in a year you go out for coffee and you would be shocked at how many hundreds of dollars it adds up to. All of this is to say, any amount you choose to give adds up quickly! If you can commit just $5 or $10 dollars a month, you probably won’t miss the change from your wallet, but after a year you’ve made a much larger impact!

It is completely up to you to decide what you can afford to give, but any amount you can give goes straight back into making our community a healthier and happier place. Your support leads to a stronger community, and we could not be more thankful for your decision to help!

What are the perks for joining? 

So you’ve decided to join the club, that’s great! You have our love and thanks for your generosity, but you also get access to some fun perks so you can get to learn more about our organization and the impact you’re making!

All monthly donors will receive a VIP invitation to We Don’t Waste Wednesdays––a monthly gathering at our distribution center to tour the facility, meet our staff, and enjoy food and beverages! If a behind the scenes peek at the operation isn’t enticing enough, we are a pretty fun crew to get to know as well!

Monthly donors can also look forward to an exclusive invitation to our fundraising events throughout the year. If fancy dinners and cocktails from local chefs are your thing, you’ll want to join us at our annual Fill A Plate for Hunger celebration. We recognize the work of our donors and sponsors, enjoy food from dozens of wonderful local chefs, and raise a truly awesome amount of funds to help us grow our impact the following year. If creativity and sculpture is more your style, you do not want to miss the Canstruction® event! Teams from local architecture and construction companies compete to build sculptures out of canned food Canstruction® has definitely become a cult-favorite among the participants!

Commit to donating in May, and the annualized amount of your commitment is matched by the PB and K Family Foundation! That means your donation is effectively doubled! If you choose to donate during the month of May and commit to $25 dollars a month or more, you will also receive a reusable We Don’t Waste Tote Bag! The tote features our logo on the front so that you can rep your pride on your next grocery trip. 

So with all of that being said, consider if monthly giving is right for you. It’s quick and easy to sign up, just a few minutes of your time can help keep good food out of landfills and feed hungry people instead!

Written by: Caroline Hissong, We Don’t Waste, Marketing and Communications Coordinator

More than half of the households in Colorado with children are struggling to find regular access to nutritious food.

Addressing food insecurity is a key part of our mission––but what makes summer hunger unique? Food insecurity is a state in which people lack reliable access to affordable and nutritious food. The summer season adds an additional set of challenges, as about 22 million children in the U.S. rely on food assistance programs providing free or low-cost lunches, breakfasts, and after-school snacks at their schools. With school shutdowns due to COVID many children in Colorado have already had less access to support programs and have had to endure more hunger during the school year than in previous years. 

When school is out for the summer, the National Summer Food Service Program reaches less than 1 in 10 children in Colorado in need. Challenges with transportation and/or having to travel an excessive distance to a food program site leaves the majority of these children without that lifeline. Families, very suddenly, have to come up with a plan to provide additional meals every day for each child in the household. 

While many people are feeling a sense of relief due to the accessibility to the COVID-19 vaccine, the economic fallout of the past year is still devastating to much of Colorado’s population. Currently, more than 1 in 3 Coloradans currently considered food insecure. In order to feed their children over summer, the average family sees their grocery bill increase by $300 each month. This often leads to difficult decisions in which two-thirds of all low-income families have to choose between paying for utilities, medical care, or food. 

And for children, in particular, hunger isn’t just about a full belly; there are major health implications that come from malnutrition which can affect them the rest of their lives. For children this can mean more long-term health consequences such as heart disease, diabetes, asthma, iron deficiency, and more.

Hunger and malnutrition contribute to reduced attendance and participation in school, as well as the “slideback” of education in the summer. Food insecurity also directly affects children’s learning capacity, as well as their chances of graduating high school. By feeding our children during the summer they’re more likely to succeed during the school year and find security as an adult.

While food insecurity is a problem for millions of families over summer, the issue has worsened in 2021. For many children in Colorado their health and happiness is on the line this summer. 

Our Mobile Food Markets provide FREE, healthy food to Colorado kids and their families, supporting them during the extra challenges of the summer. Thanks to the work of our volunteers and our generous donors we are able to put millions of servings of fresh food on plates that would have otherwise been empty. 

Your donations are doubled for the month of May thanks to our active donation matching campaign. Please consider supporting We Don’t Waste in our mission to fight summer hunger.

There’s a lot to love about February at We Don’t Waste. Our biggest news is that our 1,000-sq-ft refrigeration system is up and running. We were busier than ever in January, continuing to install racking and set up our new office space, and still managed to surpass our numbers from January 2017 by more than 260,000 servings of food!

As we continue to grow our impact, we’re so thankful for our many partners that make this possible. One new partnership that we’re excited about is at Denver’s South High School, where community members, school volunteers and a local nonprofit, Food for Thought, collaborate to run a Friday food pantry for students. Serving over 100 students a week, the South High School Food Pantry is a way to ensure that hunger doesn’t have to hit home for high school-aged students. They follow a choice model, allowing students to select the items and amounts of food that they then take home to their families. Since the beginning of 2018, We Don’t Waste has provided 4,670 servings of food to the pantry, allowing students to access items like fresh fruit, vegetables, and yogurt.

South High School’s student body is made up of students from 62 countries, according to a September 2017 article in the Denver Post. Designated as a “newcomer school,” South High School accepts students who may not have formal education or might not speak English. Many of the students are immigrants and refugees, sometimes having fled oppressive governments and wars. Whether they’re rebuilding their lives in the US or were born here in Denver, students should not have to go without healthy, fresh food, and this is essential to our mission at We Don’t Waste. Thanks to all of the South High School volunteers, community members and Food for Thought for making the pantry happen, allowing us to to feed more of Denver’s youth.