Food Forward: How Volunteer Teams Move Surplus Produce from Tree to Table

by Nora L. Silver
01 Oct 2021

Food Forward's volunteers call it 'fruit therapy' to harvest excess fruit from citrus trees throughout Los Angeles knowing it will soon feed food insecure families. Through the nonprofit's 2020 surplus produce programs, the team rescued 62.5 million pounds of nutritious fruits and vegetables and even organized 2,037 socially-distanced volunteer events during the COVID-19 shut-downs. The team, comprised of 40 engaged staff and 4,100 dedicated volunteers, worked together to overcome the imbalance of food waste and people who lacked enough to eat. How did Food Forward maintain and motivate such a large volunteer group to help bridge the hunger gap - and what role would they play in the organization's future?