Nonprofit Partners with Giant Eagle, Zipcar to Help Prevent Food Waste

412 Food Rescue is working with Giant Eagle and Zipcar to make good use of leftovers, delivering food that would’ve otherwise been wasted to the organizations who need it.

photo courtesy of 412 food rescue

The nonprofit group 412 Food Rescue is celebrating one year of repurposing unsellable but otherwise edible food by partnering with Giant Eagle and Zipcar.

The organization uses a network of volunteers to redistribute food that is viable past its short declared shelf life. In its first year, 412 Food Rescue salvaged more than 346,000 pounds of food.

The partnership with Giant Eagle gives 412 Food Rescue direct access food that’s typically difficult to redistribute. “412 Food Rescue operates in real-time, allowing us to donate products with a shortened shelf life that cannot otherwise be used by typical food banks and pantries, including bread and select produce items,” says Giant Eagle spokesperson Daniel Donovan in a press release. “Time-sensitive surplus food can now be transported to nonprofits for immediate consumption.”

ZIpcar, a car-sharing network, will give volunteers without cars discounted access to the company’s vehicles to help with distribution.

“The support of Giant Eagle and Zipcar will allow us to redirect an unprecedented volume of food to nonprofits that serve those in poverty,” says co-founder and CEO Leah Lizarondo, “giving us the opportunity to come closer to our goal of saving 3 million pounds of food in our first three years.”

Lizarondo is a former blogger and contributor to Pittsburgh Magazine.