Industry Viewpoint: Revolutionizing food recovery with Feeding America’s MealConnect
Industry Viewpoint: Revolutionizing food recovery with Feeding America’s MealConnect
Let’s face it — no one likes to see good food go uneaten. But here’s the kicker: each year the United States produces 92 million pounds of surplus food while nearly 50 million people in the United States experience food insecurity. That’s where Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief and food rescue organization, steps in with its game-changing technology solution, MealConnect. Think of it as a supercharged matchmaking app, but instead of swiping right, it’s all about connecting excess food with people who need it most.
Since its inception, MealConnect has transformed from focusing solely on food rescue to becoming a comprehensive, national food-sourcing solution. Technology has played a key role in streamlining the food distribution process, making it easier for food manufacturers and retailers to donate directly to food banks. By harnessing technology, MealConnect bridges the gap between food surplus and food insecurity, offering a scalable solution to support hunger relief efforts.
MealConnect spotlight: Produce Marketplace
In 2021, Feeding America introduced MealConnect’s Produce Marketplace, an important feature designed to facilitate the sourcing of produce donations at local, regional and national levels. The platform allows for peer-to-peer sharing of surplus produce, helping ensure that nutritious food reaches people.
Feeding America’s produce program partners with growers who have an abundance of produce, turning that excess into valuable access for communities across the nation. This initiative provides fresh produce to Feeding America’s vast network partners, which includes more than 200 food banks and over 60,000 agency partners such as food pantries, meal programs and the 11 regional produce cooperatives across the U.S., all of which are essential in managing the opportunities and distribution of produce.
Josh Montemayor is executive director of Collaborative for Fresh Produce and a partner that utilizes MealConnect as part of its business solutions.
“MealConnect allows our organization to bring low-cost Texas-grown product (like watermelons) to food banks all over the country and allows us to bring non-Texas-grown commodities (like pears and apples) to food banks we serve in our region,” said Montemayor. “The increased variety through our network has been a huge win thanks to MealConnect.”
This collaborative approach, paired with innovative technology, helps address both surplus food and food insecurity by facilitating the redistribution of excess produce where it is most needed. In 2024 alone, over 676 million pounds of produce flowed through MealConnect to food banks.
How MealConnect Produce Marketplace works:
- Excess produce offered: When there’s surplus produce, it is offered on the MealConnect Produce Marketplace.
- Sharing offers: These offers are shared with Feeding America’s network of partners at local, regional and national levels. Each network partner — whether it is a food bank or regional cooperative — can place an order based on their specific demand and capacity to manage the produce.
- Transportation options: Partners have flexible options for how to receive the produce. They can choose transportation arranged by Feeding America, vendor-arranged transportation or they can even arrange for pick-up through their own members or volunteers.
- Distribution of fresh produce: Once the produce arrives at the designated partner, it is distributed ensuring that fresh and nutritious food reaches communities across the country.
This streamlined process helps efficiently redistribute food, minimize waste and provide healthy options to people who may otherwise lack access to fresh produce.
Continued evolution: The Marketplace
Feeding America’s MealConnect Produce Marketplace is set for a significant evolution by mid-summer 2025. Evolving into the ultimate food-sourcing headquarters for all Feeding America partners by offering groceries and produce all in one spot. This shift will expand MealConnect’s functionality and centralize food donations and sourcing. Here are the key updates that will shape this evolution:
- Grocery purchasing: Feeding America members will be able to browse, shop and manage both produce and groceries from one convenient platform.
- More produce power: The platform will bring even better support for produce partners, making food distribution smoother and convenient.
- Stronger community ties: Regional cooperatives will have tools to support their members like never before, which will strengthen the network’s ability to meet local demand and enhance food distribution efficiency.
- Easy-peasy interface: Say goodbye to clunky navigation. The refreshed platform will be a breeze to use, letting partners spend less time clicking and more time helping.
These updates are part of Feeding America’s broader vision to leverage innovation and technology advancements to turn MealConnect into a comprehensive food-sourcing platform that supports its mission to end hunger for good in the U.S.
MealConnect provides technology solutions that are vital to end food insecurity. This platform serves as a critical link in the supply chain, ensuring that surplus food finds its way to the families who need it most. By streamlining the food rescue process, MealConnect offers a lifeline to millions while promoting a more resilient and food system.
To meet the growing need, Feeding America has set an ambitious goal to rescue an additional 1 billion pounds of food annually by collaborating with more partners for its Food Rescue Challenge. Everyone can play a role in our mission to end hunger.
If you’re interested in learning more about MealConnect or joining the Food Rescue Challenge, please reach out to [email protected].
