Food Donation: Feed People—Not Landfills

Food Waste

Food Banks and Food Rescue Programs

Food banks are community-based, professional organizations that collect food from a variety of sources and save the food in warehouses. The food bank then distributes the food to hungry families and individuals through a variety of emergency food assistance agencies, such as soup kitchens, youth or senior centers, shelters and pantries. Most food banks tend to collect less perishable foods such as canned goods because they can be stored for a longer time.

Food rescue programs take excess perishable and prepared food and distribute it to agencies and charities that serve hungry people such as soup kitchens, youth or senior centers, shelters and pantries. Many of these agencies visit the food bank each week to select fresh produce and packaged products for their meal programs or food pantries. Many also take direct donations from stores, restaurants, cafeterias, and individuals with surplus food to share.

Typical Products Donated

Check with your food bank or food rescue operation (soup kitchen, shelter, etc.) to find out what items they will accept. The following types of products are often wanted:

Close-to-code
Out-of-code with extended shelf-life recommendations
Mislabeled and unlabeled
Off-spec items
Bulk
Test product inventory
Seasonal items
Promotional items
Prepared and perishable goods
Discontinued products
Salvage
Customer returns and refusals
Produce
Over-the-counter items
Foodservice-packaged items
Health and beauty aids
Frozen and refrigerated goods
Household cleaning items
Reformulations
Private-Label product
Production overruns
Ingredients and raw materials
Paper products
Boxes, bags, totes, pallets
Equipment

Finding a Food Bank or Rescue Program in my Area

There are several organizations that can direct you to a local food bank or rescue program.

Feeding America is a national network of food banks that is the largest charitable hunger relief organization in America. It oversees the distribution of surplus food and grocery products through nearly 200 network affiliate food banks and nearly 50,000 charitable agencies. Your nearest food bank can also tell you which food pantries and kitchens are in your neighborhood. Locate a food bank near you .
Food Pantries allows you to search for food banks by state or by zip code.
AmpleHarvest.org – This nationwide effort aims to educate, encourage and enable gardeners with extra produce to easily donate to a local food pantry.
Rock and Wrap It Up! is an independent anti-poverty think tank based in New York. It is non-profit and nonpartisan, an organization devoted to developing innovative greening solutions to the pressing issues of hunger and poverty in America. They cover over 500 cities and work with a national database of over 43,000 shelters and places of need.

You can also work directly with a local or regional agency or organization to get your surplus food to the needy. To find other programs in your area, check the government and community services pages of your local phone book or just enter “food donations” along with your town and state on your computer Internet browser.

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Typical Food Donors

Typical food bank donors include large manufacturers, supermarket chains, wholesalers, farmers, food brokers, and organized community food drives. Perishable and prepared foods are typically collected from restaurants, caterers, corporate dining rooms, hotels, and other food establishments for prompt distribution to hungry people in their communities.

Donated food includes leftovers from events, products affected by labeling regulations or manufacturing glitches, expired coupons or code dates, test-market products, and food drive collections.

Donating surplus food inventory to food banks can be safe, efficient, and cost-effective. It reduces warehouse storage and disposal costs, and your local food bank can pick up donations free of charge.

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Tax Benefits for Donating Food – Do Well by Doing Good

Food donations can add up to big savings for the donors. Not only will you reduce your waste disposal costs, but donations can also generate significant tax benefits for businesses.

Example

Selling Price $4
Cost $1
Gross Profit equals $3
One-half of $3 equals $1.50

The maximum deduction can never exceed two times the cost ($2)

Therefore, gross profit element is limited to $1

Total charitable deductions: $2

The information below should be used only as a guide. Donors are advised to consult with their tax advisor in applying the appropriate deduction. (Courtesy of Feeding America )

The general rule since 1969 states that a taxpayer who contributes appreciated inventory or certain other ordinary income property is permitted a charitable deduction for an amount equal to the taxpayer’s basis in the contributed property (not its fair market value).

Congress further refined the statute to allow corporate donors an increased deduction, under certain circumstances, for contributions of ordinary income property to a public charity or to a private operating foundation.

The 1976 Tax Reform Act (Section 2135) made inventory donation to charities more advantageous for business taxpayers by increasing the allowable income tax deduction and allowing the donor to determine the “fair market value” of their donation, not to exceed two times the cost.

The bottom line:

A: The sum of one-half of the unrealized appreciation (market value minus cost = appreciation) plus the taxpayer’s cost, but
B: Not in excess of twice the cost of the contributed property.

For more information, please reference:

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Protection From Liability

Gifts to food banks are covered by a number of liability protections, including national Good Samaritan laws. The “Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act” (PDF) (2 pp, 237K, about PDF) (Public Law 104-210) makes it easier for businesses to donate to food banks and food rescue programs. It protects donors from liability when donating to nonprofit organizations and protects donors from civil and criminal liability should the product donated in good faith later cause harm to the needy recipient.

The law also sets a liability floor of “gross negligence”; or intentional misconduct for persons who donate grocery products. It recognizes that the provision of food close to recommended date of sale is, in and of itself, not grounds for finding gross negligence. For example, cereal can be donated if it is marked close to code date for retail sale.

Food banks also protect their donors by offering a variety of liability protections, including strict standards of warehouse operation, proper storage and handling procedures, complete product tracking and recall capabilities, and accurate and timely receipting.

For more information on protection from liability, go to our Frequent Questions page.

Information on food safety can also be found on Food Donation Connection’s website.

Reducing and frequently removing waste food also reduces the attractiveness and opportunities for rodents, insects, and other pests. The safe storage and quick removal of excess food and food scraps for donation and composting can markedly improve the sanitation, health, and safety of both your facility, kitchen, and your neighborhood.

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Resources

Donating Surplus Food to the Needy (PDF) (4 pp, 120K, about PDF) focuses on Prepared and Perishable Food Programs, also called food recovery programs or surplus food distribution programs, that redistribute small volumes of freshly prepared foods and perishables.

Don’t Throw Away That Food: Strategies for Record-Setting Waste Reduction documents successful programs that can be used as models for others implementing their own programs to reduce garbage. This publication is oriented toward commercial and institutional food discard generators, and highlights record-setting food recovery programs.

Rock and Wrap It Up! Helps Fight Hunger is a success story about how Rock and Wrap It Up! arranges the collection and local donation of leftover food and other basic necessities, such as toiletries, from rock concerts, sporting events, hotels, corporate meetings, political rallies, and school cafeterias.