Up to 40% of food goes to waste. Pre-pandemic, 1 in 9 Americans were hungry – now it’s reported as high as 1 in 5 people are food insecure. Food waste is the single largest component of municipal landfills.

Many people affected by hunger and poverty live in food deserts and often lack adequate transportation and enough hours in the day to access traditional food pantries.

Food Rescue Hero is a technology platform and mobile app that mobilizes volunteers to transport surplus food to those who can use it. We combine technology, last-mile logistics and community engagement to create a new food recovery and redistribution network that effectively delivers fresh and highly perishable food directly to those who need it most.

The Food Rescue Hero app addresses the logistical challenges of food rescue through community-powered networks. Volunteer drivers are alerted when surplus food is available to be picked up near them. Since its launch in 2016, the app has redirected more than 77 million pounds of perfectly good food from landfills to the people who need it. 

Food Rescue Hero was developed and launched in Pittsburgh and is now being used by hunger relief and food rescue groups in Cleveland, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Northern Virginia, Los Angeles, Vancouver, and more. In support of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, our goal for Food Rescue Hero is to implement technology in 100 cities by 2030.

We have a proven track record in Pittsburgh, our pilot city, and are actively looking to partner with other food rescue organizations to launch and scale food rescue in your community.

At scale, Food Rescue Hero has the potential to be one of the most disruptive innovations to reduce food waste and hunger.

Our easy-to-install Food Rescue Hero app can mobilize thousands of volunteers at the touch of a screen. While our innovative last-mile logistics rescues and redistributes fresh food in real-time; reducing traditional donation barriers to food retailers and delivering food directly to where people live, work and learn.