Did you know that nearly 40% of all food in the U.S. is wasted? And, nearly 6 million tons of food is wasted each year in California alone.

At Second Harvest, we’re on a mission to change that. As the leader in food rescue across Santa Clara and San Mateo counties, we rescue more food than any other organization in our region. Last fiscal year alone, we saved over 93 million pounds of fresh, high-quality food and made sure it reached neighbors experiencing food insecurity.

By rescuing fresh produce from farms and nutritious food from retail stores and distributors – good food that would otherwise go to waste – we provide more variety to the clients we serve and also help protect the planet.

The Local Impact of Senate Bill 1383

“Second Harvest is committed to providing more diverse foods to our clients while doing our part to reduce greenhouse gases created through food waste,” said Melissa Gaherty, Second Harvest regional food sourcing manager. “We help businesses comply with SB 1383, which requires them to donate more of their surplus, quality food. This means that more healthy food is available for people who are hungry and less goes into landfills.”

We are receiving more rescued food than ever because we play a leading role in food rescue across our two counties, helping businesses comply with California Senate Bill 1383’s (SB 1383) mandate that they salvage edible food.

  • Of the more than 21 million pounds of food rescued in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties in 2023, Second Harvest and our partner network recovered 18 million pounds, making up 80% of the total food recovery in Silicon Valley.
  • We connected more than 120 partner agencies to over 33,000 pickups from over 240 stores – about 740 pickups from food donors every week!
Second Harvest and our partner network recovered 80% of food rescued in Silicon Valley.

Less Waste, More Food

Helping businesses comply with SB 1383 is just one part of our robust food rescue program. Of the 127 million pounds of food we sourced and distributed last year, 72% was rescued.

Rescued food reduces waste and our carbon footprint. In our last fiscal year alone:

  • We saved over 93 million pounds of food from going to waste, saving the planet 39,000 metric tons (or over 86M pounds) of carbon dioxide and over 1.6 billion gallons of water. This is equivalent to taking nearly 8,500 passenger vehicles off the road for a year and saving enough water to fill more than 2,500 Olympic sized swimming pools, according to the ReFED Insights Engine Impact Calculator.
  • Of the 93 million pounds of rescued food, nearly 66 million pounds of that was fresh produce we saved from being plowed under in the fields.
Food rescue graphic

“For us, ensuring that the food we’re getting to people is good quality and nutritious is always going to come first,” says Tracy Weatherby, Second Harvest chief impact officer. “But because of the work we’re doing, we are really helping with the environment and reducing greenhouse gases.”

Supporting Second Harvest Supports Food Rescue

Rescuing food is a big job. It takes a lot of volunteers, staff and financial resources to pick up, transport, and quickly distribute food to neighbors experiencing food insecurity. By supporting Second Harvest, you’re helping reduce food waste and helping nourish our neighbors.