Farm to Food Bank
1 in 8 Georgians struggles to put enough nutritious food on the table, yet 40% of food is wasted, with the biggest category being fresh fruit and vegetables. Georgia’s farmers and your regional food banks have joined forces to recover surplus produce and help end hunger in Georgia.
Farmers have the unmarketable but wholesome produce; we have the means to share it with hungry people. Each year, Georgia farmers donate their perfectly healthy but misshapen or missized produce to our food banks that would otherwise be thrown away. This partnership provides more than 14 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to the food bank network each year.
Georgia’s regional food banks have temperature-controlled facilities to process donations as well as refrigerated trucks to safely transport and distribute fresh foods like produce and dairy products statewide. Together, we are putting an end to the cycle of hunger and chronic disease by increasing access to wholesome, nutritious foods.
Are you a farmer who wants to donate?
It’s a win-win. You can create a market for your seconds all while helping to end hunger in Georgia. Georgia’s food banks have the knowledge and infrastructure to handle your donations effectively and safely, and the Good Samaritan Laws protect you from any legal liability for good faith charitable food donations.
The Southeast Regional Cooperative is a member-led 501 c 3, Type I Supporting Organization comprised of Feeding America food banks in 7 southeastern states. It seeks to provide fresh produce to food banks in the Southeast region, focusing on quality and variety, helping them exceed volume goals. The SERC is designed to aggregate surplus produce from around the southeast region and across the country and match that with demand of our member food banks. The mission of the program is to facilitate donations and to purchase produce at the lowest possible cost (PPO) while providing a consistent level of demand to growers, distributors, and other supply chain participants resulting in a consistent supply of produce to our members.
For more information about how you can donate, contact
Zack Smith, Sourcing & Operations Manager
zack.smith@seregcoop.org