Food Forward: Making Use of Residential Fruit to Fight Hunger

MEND is proud to be partners with FOOD FORWARD, an all-volunteer grassroots group of Angelenos who care about reconnecting to our food system and making change around urban hunger and food waste.  It is an incredibly simple idea that is win-win all around: several times a month Food Forward volunteers convene at a private property they have been invited to and glean the excess fruit on its trees, donating 100% of it to local food pantries.

They have been featured in the LA Times, Daily News, on NPR and various web and print publications. In their short time together they have harvested nearly 25 tons of fruit in the LA area. One tree or one hundred trees, no matter, Food Forward supplies the volunteers, equipment and coordination to pull off picks both large and small, creating an atmosphere of community that encourages its volunteers to reconnect and pass along the abundance of food already present in our daily lives.

We greatly encourage you to reach out to Food Forward to volunteer your property to be gleaned, or to be part of a pick.  To sign up visit the “Get Involved” page of their website: http://foodforward.org or call them at 818-530-4125.