I knew none of these things until I had an opportunity to speak with Roger Norris Gordon, the president and one of the founding members of Food Cowboy. He, along with his brother Richard Gordon and Dr. Barbara Cohen, have come together to organize solutions to hunger by reducing food waste in America.
Although solving the hunger problem in the United States is far from simple, it can certainly be alleviated somewhat with some pretty basic involvement from growers, wholesalers, shippers, receivers and truckers. A large amount of waste in the shipping of grocery goods could be put to practical use in food banks, instead of being sent to the landfill.
It all comes down to logistics. It’s profitable for retailers to refuse produce and food items, because it gives them a better selection to put in their stores and doesn’t affect their initial cost – they only pay for what they accept. The people who take the financial hit are the growers, wholesalers and truckers, who lose money in time and fuel shipping unsaleable goods, as well as having to dispose of them. Often, a dumpster is closer and, depending upon fuel costs, more cost-efficient than taking the goods to a food bank.
Richard Gordon, who has over 25 years of experience in the trucking industry, and who hauled produce/grocery for 16 years before joining his brother Roger in the Food Cowboy endeavor, knows these loads are usually taken between 2-4 a.m., and food banks are rarely open during those hours to accept blemished goods. Few truckers have time to wait for doors to open, and few pantries have enough funding to keep 24-hour staff.
What’s the solution?
The Food Cowboy has it broken down into very specific categories on their website. Drivers and shippers have straightforward objectives, with incentives for all involved. It’s as simple as getting the right people connected, and taking the food pantry technology to the level of the current day transportation industry’s status is the first step.
Most indigent food centers have very little, if any, upgraded technology – they lack websites and online accessibility, because the bulk of their monies go to feeding people. Something as basic as an app that allows these people to connect logistically on their cell phones to make it as easy (and profitable) to use the food as to dispose of it, can make a huge difference.
