Feeding America

In the mid 1960s, during rehabilitation in Phoenix, Arizona after a paralyzing injury, John van Hengel began volunteering at a local soup kitchen. He solicited food donations and ended up with far more food than the kitchen could use. Around this time, one of the clients told him that she regularly fed her children with discarded items from a grocery store garbage dumpster. She told him that the food quality was fine, but that there should be a place where unwanted food could be deposited and later withdrawn by people who needed it, like a bank.

Van Hengel began to actively solicit unwanted food from grocery stores, local gardens, and nearby citrus groves. His effort led to the creation of St. Mary's Food Bank in Phoenix, the nation's first food bank.[4]

In 1975, St. Mary's was awarded a federal grant to assist in developing food banks across the nation. This effort was formally incorporated into a separate non-profit organization in 1976.[5]

In 2001, America's Second Harvest merged with Foodchain,[6] which was the nation's largest food-rescue organization at that time.

In 2005, Feeding America began using an internal market with a synthetic currency called "shares" to more rationally allocate food. Currency is allocated based on the need, and then individual banks bid on which foods they want the most, based on local knowledge and ability to transport and store the food offered.[7] Negative prices are possible, so banks could earn shares by picking up undesirable food. The previous centrally planned system had penalized banks for refusing any food offered, even if it was the wrong type to meet their needs, and this resulted in misallocations ("sending potatoes to Idaho"), food rotted away in places that did not need it, and the wrong types of food being delivered (e.g. not matching hot dogs with hot dog buns).[8]

In May 2007, it was featured on American Idol, named as a charity in the Idol Gives Back charity program.[9]

In September 2008, the organization name was changed to Feeding America.[10]

In August 2009, Columbia Records announced that all U.S. royalties from Bob Dylan's album Christmas in the Heart would be donated to Feeding America, in perpetuity.[11]

There has been a rise in the numbers suffering from hunger since the financial crisis of 2007–2008. In 2013, the USDA reported that about 49 million U.S. Americans faced poor nutrition, about one in six of the population.[12] In September, they launched Hunger Action Month, with events planned all over the nation, to raise awareness and get more U.S. Americans involved in helping out.[13][14][15]

In 2015, Feeding America saved more than 2 billion pounds (~907 thousand metric tons) of food that would have been thrown away otherwise, but could instead be distributed to hungry families.[16]

In 2018, the USDA announced that food insecurity had been steadily declining since the 2009 recession ended.[17]

In 2020, Feeding America said that there are about 11 million children suffering from hunger in the United States. Children, along with families and seniors having trouble making ends meet, are suffering the most.[18]

Bob Aiken was its first CEO. Matt Knott was its interim-CEO in 2015. On October 1, 2015, Diana Aviv became its second CEO.[19] On October 1, 2018, Claire Babineaux-Fontenot became its third CEO.[20][21]

Feeding America works to educate the general public and keep them informed about hunger in America. The national office produces educational and research papers that spotlight aspects of hunger and provides information on hunger, poverty and the programs that serve vulnerable Americans. Feeding America's public policy staff works with legislators, conducting research, testifying at hearings and advocating for changes in public attitudes and laws that support Feeding America's network and those the organization serves.[22]

In 2017, Feeding America announced a plan to increase the nutritional value of food from food banks. By 2023, the group plans to offer more fruits and vegetables, and provide training so they can distribute more produce, whole grains and lean proteins.[23]

There are more than 200 Feeding America food banks, each of which works in its own area. A complete and current list is available at the Feeding America web site. Food banks in the network include:

• Alameda County Community Food Bank in Oakland, California
• Arkansas Foodbank Network in Little Rock, Arkansas
• Atlanta Community Food Bank in metro Atlanta and north Georgia
• Banco de Alimentos de Puerto Rico in Bayamón, Puerto Rico
• Capital Area Food Bank in Washington, D.C.
• Community Action Services and Food Bank in Provo, Utah
• Community Food Bank of Central Alabama in Birmingham, Alabama
• Connecticut Food Bank in East Haven, Connecticut
• Feeding South Florida in Pembroke Park, Florida
• Feeding Tampa Bay in Tampa, Florida
• Feeding the Gulf Coast, Theodore, Alabama serving the central Gulf Coast
• Feeding America West Michigan in Grand Rapids, Michigan
• Food Bank for Larimer County in Fort Collins, Colorado
• Foodlink in Rochester, New York
• Food Bank For New York City in New York City
• Food Bank of Alaska, Inc. in Anchorage, Alaska
• Food Bank of Delaware in Delaware
• Food Lifeline in Seattle, Washington
• Forgotten Harvest in Metro Detroit
• Freestore Foodbank in Cincinnati, Ohio
• Gleaners Community Food Bank in Southeastern Michigan
• Good Shepherd Food Bank in Maine
• Greater Boston Food Bank in Boston, Massachusetts
• Greater Chicago Food Depository in Chicago, Illinois
• Harvest Hope in Columbia, South Carolina
• Hawaii Foodbank, Inc. in Honolulu, Hawaii
• Houston Food Bank in Houston, Texas
• North Texas Food Bank in Dallas, Texas
• Inter-Faith Food Shuttle in Raleigh, North Carolina
• Philabundance in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
• Redwood Empire Food Bank in northern California
• Roadrunner Food Bank in Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Second Harvest Food Bank in Irvine, California
• Second Harvest Food Bank in southern Louisiana
• Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Tennessee in Kingsport, Tennessee
• Second Harvest Inland Northwest in Spokane, Washington
• Second Harvest North Florida in Jacksonville, Florida
• St. Mary's Food Bank in Phoenix, Arizona
• Vermont Foodbank in Barre, Vermont
• Virginia Peninsula Food Bank in Hampton Roads, Virginia

• Second Harvest Toronto (Canada)

• Laura Reiley (October 2, 2020), "U.S. faces shortage of up to 8 billion meals in next 12 months, leading food bank says", Washingtonpost.com

• Official website
• Hunger Action Month
• BBB Wise Giving Report on America's Second Harvest
• Charity Navigator report
• Canice Prendergast (August 13, 2015). "The Allocation of Food to Food Banks" (PDF).