November 28, 2023 – Washington, D.C. – International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) BB #:378962 celebrated #GivingTuesday by reflecting on food donation partnerships with the Global Produce and Floral Show.
At this year’s show, held in Anaheim, IFPA partnered with Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County and Food Forward to rescue and distribute produce and floral and also worked with event partner, GES, to donate furniture and appliances used on the floor during the show.
“The partnerships we have with local organizations that help us rescue and deliver produce, floral and more to the communities that host our show are critical to our values and sustainability goals,” said Director of Trade Shows, Kyle McMillan. “We’re also so grateful for our Exhibitors for their generosity of donating their products and look forward to continuing our work with these partners at next year’s show in Atlanta, Georgia.”
IFPA put in place an extensive back of house waste sorting operation to maximize the collection of over 6 tons of floral green waste. Additional waste streams included soft plastics, cardboard, and single stream recycling.
The donation at this year’s show totaled 227,000 lbs of produce and floral with 221,000 lbs of produce going to the communities around Anaheim and Los Angeles, along with 6,650 lbs of floral. This was rescued and packed by volunteers trained and organized by IFPA’s longstanding partners, Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County.
“Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County is thrilled to continue its long-term partnership with IFPA for another successful trade show,” said Director of Sourcing, Logistics, and Sustainability, Kelly Alesi.
“We deeply appreciate this fruitful collaboration. We also extend our gratitude to the members and vendors of the 2023 IFPA trade show for their generous product donations. Second Harvest greatly values this year’s contributions which have played a crucial role in our ability to supply our community with nutritious, fresh produce.”
This year, IFPA expanded the partnership to maximize community impact by also partnering with Food Forward who help to distribute food and floral through their LA distribution channels.
“As a national innovator in the food loss and waste space, Food Forward leverages its unique and sustainable business model to recover hundreds of thousands of pounds of surplus fruits and vegetables daily, thanks to the generosity of?produce donors,” said Rick Nahmias,?founder and CEO at Food Forward. “We are deeply grateful for our partnership with IFPA, which provides a tremendous opportunity to strategically educate the produce industry while sharing more surplus produce with the communities who need it most.”
In a continued effort to be more sustainable, for the first time ever, IFPA offered a furnishing recycling option which included furniture, refrigerators and more that have been donated to the surrounding communities.
While the Global Produce & Floral Show donation takes place in October, IFPA recognizes that nutrition security is an ongoing challenge around the world. If you’re interested in celebrating #GivingTuesday or just in giving to these great partners, you can find more information here:
Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County
About Food Forward
Since its founding in 2009, Food Forward has diverted over 370 million pounds of fruits and vegetables from landfills and into food insecure communities free of charge. Our refrigerated warehouse in Bell, California is the receiving and distribution hub for nearly 200,000 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. This is enough produce to meet the USDA’s recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day for nearly 250,000 people.?Share The Abundance™ with a gift today.
About Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County
At Second Harvest Food Bank, our vision is an Orange County with food and nutritional security for all. In collaboration with our partners, we provide dignified, equitable and consistent access to nutritious food, creating a foundation for community health. Our partner network includes houses of worship, schools, after-school programs, colleges and universities, senior centers, shelters for the unhoused, soup kitchens and transitional housing facilities, with sites at 362 locations throughout the county. In fiscal year 2022-2023, we distributed 36.3 million pounds of food to an average of 393,000 neighbors in need each month. Approximately 50,000-60,000 pounds of produce is harvested each week at the 40-acre Harvest Solutions Farm in Irvine, a collaboration with Solutions for Urban Agriculture and the University of California South Coast Research & Extension Center begun in August 2021. Second Harvest is a member of the Feeding America network. For more information, visit feedoc.org.
About the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA)
The International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA)?is the largest and most diverse international association serving the entire fresh produce and floral supply chain and the only to seamlessly integrate world-facing advocacy and industry-facing support. We exist to bring the industry together to create a vibrant future for all. We grow our member’s prosperity by conducting advocacy; connecting people and ideas; and offering guidance that allows us all to?take action?with purpose and confidence.
Contact: Ashley Sempowski, ASempowski@freshproduce.com +1 (202) 303-3406
