SFO Partners with Waste No Food to connect airport restaurant donors with local charities
On July 19, 2017, the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) announced the launch of a new food donation program, titled “SFO Unites Against Hunger”, which partners with web-based marketplace Waste No Food to connect airport restaurants who have excess food to donate with local charities in need of such resources. To support the donation process, the Airport constructed four purpose-built donation rooms around the Airport, complete with industrial-size refrigeration units. SFO has secured participation from eight airport tenants, operating a total of 38 food and beverage locations around the Airport. SFO began accepting donations on July 10, 2017. In the first week of operation, approximately 250 meals were donated to the St. Anthony Foundation, and other charities will be added in the near future.
“We are proud to launch our ‘SFO Unites Against Hunger’ food donation program,” said Airport Director Ivar C. Satero. “Our goal is to be an exceptional Airport in service to our communities, and this effort takes our commitment to a new level. We appreciate the innovative solution provided by Waste No Food, and we are grateful for the participation of so many restaurant operators at SFO.”
“This program will make a huge dent in hunger within our community,” said Waste No Food Executive Director Kiran Sridhar. “If we can reduce food waste by just thirty percent, we can feed every hungry person in our community—and in the nation. And because we leverage technology, our solution is adaptable, portable, and scalable to airports across the country. It is fitting that San Francisco Airport – the transportation hub of the Bay Area – is at the vanguard of innovation in helping to eradicate hunger.”
“St. Anthony’s serves more than 800,000 meals each year to homeless and low-income San Franciscans,” said Corporate Relations Manager Dolores Gould. “We can only do that with the support of community partners like SFO and their wonderful team of airport tenants who do such a great job of serving passengers and staff.”
Studies have shown that as much as one-third of all food from farms, restaurants, and grocery stores go to waste. Waste No Food is a registered non-profit organization that provides a web-based “marketplace” allowing excess food to be donated to the food service industry to qualified charities.
The program currently makes donations three times per week to the St. Anthony Foundation and Life Moves. The frequency of donations may be expanded based on the strong initial showing.
The Airport is currently only accepting pre-packaged food for the donation program. Food donated under the program must be pre-packaged with an “use by” date and must be delivered to one of the Airport donation sites a minimum of three days before the “use by” date.
