FOOD RESCUE

Did you know 70 billion pounds of food get thrown out each year in the United States? This is according to the national anti-hunger group Feeding America. They say that nearly 40 percent of all food grown and produced is wasted. However, the Central Illinois Foodbank, which is part of Feeding America’s foodbank network, has been “rescuing” some of that food since 2005. In its first year, the group saved 201,000 pounds of food that would have been thrown away by 12 grocery stores. In just the past six months, they’ve rescued an astonishing 1.1 million pounds of food from going to the dump. They now collect food from 12 retailers at 50 locations throughout central Illinois. “To be able to save good food from landfills and put it on the plates of those who need it most means a lot to us,” said Central Illinois Foodbank executive director Pam Molitoris. “In the past six months over half of the food that we have rescued has been either fresh produce, meat or dairy, which helps with our healthy foods initiative as well.” For more information, check out centralilfoodbank.org.