Media Alert

North Hollywood, CA, October 11, 2023 – Food Forward®, the food loss and waste solution not-for-profit will serve as an official gleaning partner for IFPA’s 2023 Global Produce & Floral Show in Anaheim, California. The global show is an annual gathering of more than 20,000 leaders and innovators in the produce and floral industries. Food Forward is expected to glean the produce featured at the global event to donate to hunger relief partners across Southern California. Last year, approximately 196,285 pounds of produce and florals were featured at the conference.

“This partnership is a tremendous opportunity for the Food Forward team to strategically educate the produce industry and benefit from and share the surplus produce with communities in need,” says Jill Overdorf, Food Forward’s Produce Ambassador and Industry liaison. “As a national innovator in the food loss and waste space, Food Forward is able to leverage its unique and sustainable business model that recovers hundreds of thousands surplus produce daily.”

Food Forward is the nation’s largest independent produce reclamation and urban gleaning organization. Food Forward’s 100% plant-based and environment-friendly operations reduces bottom line costs for produce partners by reallocating unused and surplus fruits and vegetables. Produce is distributed to more than 340 agencies throughout California, six surrounding states and tribal lands, providing a long-term sustainability solution and partnership for produce donors and much needed fresh produce for recipients.

The large-scale glean with IFPA is a groundbreaking step in the organization’s mission to Share The Abundance™ by serving communities experiencing food insecurity, while mitigating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions caused by food waste. Recovering produce at this global event highlights the work that Food Forward accomplishes daily—preventing hundreds of thousands of pounds of produce from ending up in landfills.

​​About Food Forward

Since its founding in 2009, Food Forward has diverted over 350 million pounds of fruits and vegetables from landfills and into food insecure communities free of charge. Food Forward’s refrigerated warehouse in Bell, California, is the hub for 250,000 pounds of daily donations from the Los Angeles Wholesale Produce Market, its surrounding district, and from growers and shippers across the region and the country to provide a long-term sustainable solution for partners. For more details about Food Forward’s wholesale recovery work and partnership opportunities, visit foodforward.org/produce-industry or contact: [email protected].