Food Rescue - Rosenthal Fresh Foods Initiative

What happens to all the left-overs from big corporate events? Do restaurants just throw out all the food they don't sell in an evening? And what about those rotisserie chickens at the local Kroger store? If they aren't sold, do they just get thrown away?

Thanks to the FreestoreFoodbank's Rosenthal Fresh Foods Initiative, the answer is no..the food does not go to waste. The Fresh Foods Initiative is a food rescue program through which the FreestoreFoodbank picks up prepared and perishable foods for delivery to shelters, soup kitchens and other nonprofit agencies with on-site feeding programs. The program also rescues overruns on fresh produce from wholesalers and provides it to food pantries.

Participating in the program are 30 area Kroger stores from which the FreestoreFoodbank picks up meat and deli items (including rotisserie chickens) that have reached their sell-by date and must be removed from the grocer's shelves. Immediately frozen, this food is safe for distribution and consumption.

The Rosenthal Fresh Foods Initiative is an important part of the FreestoreFoodbank's strategic effort to secure additional sources of essential protein and highly nutritious fresh foods for distribution to those in need.