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The USDA estimates that nearly half the food grown and produced in the US goes to waste. At the same time, more than 50 million Americans face hunger and need help from their local food banks to fill the gaps near the end of the month when their paychecks and food benefits run out,” explains David Bobanick, Executive Director of Rotary First Harvest.
David’s Seattle-based, innovative nonprofit “works with farmers, truckers, volunteers, food banks and other partners to develop collaborative programs that capture millions of pounds of pounds of cosmetically imperfect but highly nutritious produce for distribution to those in need.”
While he acknowledges that Rotary First Harvest, which is a project led by Rotary District 5030, isn’t the single solution to hunger in the world, it has distributed nearly 200 million pounds of food since its founding in 1982.
He says, “One of our greatest challenges we face is the actual time it takes to coordinate, harvest, transport and distribute perishable produce before it spoils, rots or goes to waste. There is no one-size-fits all solution, so creativity and adaptability must be critical parts of an effective food recovery equation.”
David is able to see some challenges as opportunities; perhaps that is what defines an effective social entrepreneur. “We’ve learned that every bit of food that is wasted has a critical point at which it went from being potentially nutritious to being a costly challenge with negative environmental and human impacts. Our work is focused on finding that critical point, and creating a program or solution that redirects the food for good.”
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Read the full Your Mark on the World article and watch the interview here: http://bit.ly/294dRm1.
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