MEDIA CONTACT:
WCIAwards@FastCompany.com
412 FOOD RESCUE MEDIA CONTACT:
Leah Lizarondo
CEO
info@412FoodRescue.org
347-495-7495
FAST COMPANY ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF 2019 WORLD CHANGING IDEAS AWARDS
Pittsburgh’s 412 Food Rescue to be highlighted in Fast Company‘s May 2019 Issue
New York, April 8, 2019 — Pittsburgh’s 412 Food Rescue is included among finalists of Fast Company’s 2019 World Changing Ideas Award, announced today, honoring businesses, policies, projects, and concepts that offer innovative solutions to the issues facing humanity. All of the finalists are highlighted in the May issue of the print magazine, which hits newsstands April 16.
Now in its third year, the World Changing Ideas Award showcases a variety of innovation with Health and Wellness, Education, and AI and Data among the most popular categories. 412 Food Rescue was acknowledged as a finalist in the Apps category and as an honorable mention in the Food category – the only organization to receive honors in both of these two categories. A panel of eminent judges selected winners and finalists from a pool of more than 2,000 entries, such as Food, Energy, and Developing World Technology. The 2019 awards featured entries from across the globe, from New Zealand to Shanghai to Switzerland.
Fast Company’s May issue celebrates these world changing ideas, highlighting eBay’s HeadGaze technology that makes mobile device applications accessible to people who can’t operate a traditional mouse; Siemens’ efforts to put Puerto Rico back on the power grid after Hurricane Maria; Alibaba-owned food platform Eleme joining forces with creative agency FF Shanghai to create edible chopsticks.
“We are honored to be counted among such ground-breaking projects from around the world,” said Leah Lizarondo, co-founder and CEO of 412 Food Rescue. “Our Food Rescue Hero app continues to garner attention for its efficiency and effectiveness in harnessing people-powered technology in eliminating food waste and ending hunger.”
412 Food Rescue has made national headlines for their app, Food Rescue Hero, which gives individuals the opportunity to make a difference by picking up local donated surplus food from a restaurant or grocery store, and delivering it to nonprofits who distribute the food to people at risk for food insecurity. Precise, responsive technology and willing volunteers make the possibilities for increased food rescue endless.
While one in seven people in the U.S. is going hungry, 40 percent of the food produced here is ending up in landfills. Since their inception in 2015, 412 Food Rescue and its volunteers throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania have rescued over 5.6 million pounds of food that would have otherwise gone to landfills. This impact is equal to distributing 4.7 million meals.
The Food Rescue Hero app is free and available in the iTunes App Store and on Google Play.
High resolution photos can be found and downloaded from HERE.
About 412 Food Rescue
412 Food Rescue launched in March 2015 to address the disconnect between the fact that 40 percent of food produced in the United States is wasted while one in seven goes hungry. 412 Food Rescue’s unique approach takes the problem through the lens of an urban food system, impacting waste at each stage of the food supply value chain. Utilizing technology to solve the logistics challenge of retail food recovery, 412 Food Rescue is the only organization in Allegheny County that focuses on food that would otherwise be discarded, impacting not only hunger but also the environment. 412 Food Rescue’s goal is to introduce innovative solutions to eradicate food waste in the region and expand its model to cities around the country. To date, 412 Food Rescue has redirected over 5.6 million pounds of perfectly good food from going to landfills. The organization works with over 550 food retailers, 650 nonprofit partners and over 10,000 volunteer drivers, our Food Rescue Heroes.
About the World Changing Ideas Awards
World Changing Ideas is one of Fast Company’s major annual awards programs and is focused on social good, seeking to elevate finished products and brave concepts that make the world better. A panel of judges from across sectors choose winners, finalists, and honorable mentions based on feasibility and the potential for impact. With a goal of awarding ingenuity and fostering innovation, Fast Company draws attention to ideas with great potential and helps them expand their reach to inspire more people to start working on solving the problems that affect us all.
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