Forgotten Harvest is a

non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

food rescue Food rescue, also called food recovery, food salvage or surplus food redistribution, is the practice of gleaning edible food that would otherwise go to waste from places such as farms, produce markets, grocery stores, restaurants, or dining facil ...

organization that collects food that would otherwise go to waste and delivers it free of charge to organizations feeding the hungry in

Metro Detroit Metro Detroit is a major metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Michigan, consisting of the city of Detroit and over 200 municipalities in the Southeast Michigan, surrounding area. There are varied definitions of the area, including the officia ...

. In 2015, the nonprofit distributed more than 40 million pounds of food to more than 260 emergency food providers. Forgotten Harvest is a member of

Feeding America Feeding America is a United States–based Nonprofit organization, non-profit organization that is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other c ...

, the United States' umbrella organization for food banks and food rescue agencies.

Founder and history

Forgotten Harvest was founded in 1990 by Nancy Fishman. Susan Goodell became the organization's CEO in 2000, and under her leadership the amount of food delivered increased significantly: * 2001: 1.1 million pounds * 2007: 8.6 million pounds * 2011: 23 million pounds * 2013: 43.9 million pounds * 2014: 48.8 million pounds Forgotten Harvest was the first food rescue organization in the United States to form a rescue partnership with a grocery store, launching a program with

Kroger The Kroger Company, or simply Kroger, is an American retail company that operates (either directly or through its subsidiaries) supermarkets and multi-department stores throughout the United States. Founded by Bernard Kroger in 1883 in Cinc ...

in 1994.

Operations

Forgotten Harvest operates a fleet of 33 refrigerated trucks that pick up surplus or unwanted food at health department-approved sources such as grocery stores, restaurants, stadiums, banquet facilities and other venues. It also works with local farmers to mobilize volunteers to harvest unwanted crops in their fields. Some major retailers and venues from which Forgotten Harvest collects food in Metro Detroit include

Costco Costco Wholesale Corporation is an American multinational corporation which operates a chain of membership-only big-box warehouse club retail stores. As of 2021, Costco is the third-largest retailer in the world, and as of August 2024, Cos ...

Meijer Meijer Inc. (, ) is an American supercenter chain that primarily operates throughout the Midwestern United States. Its corporate headquarters are in Walker, Michigan. Founded in 1934 as a supermarket chain, Meijer is credited with pioneering ...

and

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

stores,

Comerica Park Comerica Park is a baseball stadium located in Downtown Detroit. It has been the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Detroit Tigers since 2000, when the team left Tiger Stadium (Detroit), Tiger Stadium. History Construction Founded in 1894, t ...

and

The Henry Ford The Henry Ford (also known as the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation and Greenfield Village, and as the Edison Institute) is a history museum complex in Dearborn, Michigan, United States, within Metro Detroit. The museum collection contai ...

. Volunteers sort and repackage food at Forgotten Harvest's distribution center and trucks deliver the food free of charge to area nonprofit agencies that provide emergency food assistance in Metro Detroit.

Forgotten Harvest Canada

In 2011, Forgotten Harvest created Forgotten Harvest Canad

a

Windsor, Ontario Windsor ( ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is situated on the south bank of the Detroit River directly across from the U.S city of Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Geographically located within but administratively independent of Esse ...

-based food rescue agency based on Forgotten Harvest's model. In its first fiscal year it delivered 135,000 pounds of food and in 2013, the organization announced that it had reached a milestone of delivering one million pounds of food since its founding.

Forgotten Harvest Farms

In the spring of 2013, Forgotten Harvest launched a farming initiative, "Forgotten Harvest Farms," where it began growing its own food on donated farmland. In October 2013, they announced an estimated 850,000 pound harvest in their first year, and the donation of $400,000 in farm equipment from Ram Truck,

Case IH Case IH is an American agricultural machinery manufacturer. It was created in 1985 when Tenneco bought selected assets of the agricultural division from International Harvester and merged it into its J.I. Case Company (IH then became Navistar) ...

and

New Holland Agriculture New Holland is a global full-line agricultural machinery manufacturer founded in New Holland, Pennsylvania, and now based in Turin, Italy. New Holland's products include tractors, combine harvesters, balers, forage harvesters, self-propelled ...

to support future growth in farm operations. Over the course of its first three years of operations, Forgotten Harvest Farms reported harvesting more than 3.1 million pounds of produce.

Awards and recognition

* In 2007, Forgotten Harvest was named the "Best-Managed Nonprofit in Metro Detroit" by

Crain's Detroit Business Crain Communications Inc. is an American publishing conglomerate based in Detroit, Michigan, United States, with 13 foreign subsidiaries. History Gustavus Dedman "G.D." Crain Jr. ( Gustavus Demetrious Crain Jr.; 1885–1973), previously the ci ...

. * In 2011, its President & CEO Susan Goodell received the Eleanor Josaitis Unsung Hero Award in the Shining Light Regional Cooperation Awards presented by the

Detroit Free Press The ''Detroit Free Press'' (commonly referred to as the ''Freep'') is a major daily newspaper in Detroit, Michigan, United States. It is the largest local newspaper owned by Gannett (the publisher of ''USA Today''), and is operated by the Detro ...

* In 2012, Forgotten Harvest and

ConAgra Foods Conagra Brands, Inc. (formerly ConAgra Foods) is an American consumer packaged goods holding company headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. Conagra makes and sells products under various brand names that are available in supermarkets, restaurants, ...

shared a gold Edison Award for Green Programs for their "novel partnership between a food manufacturing plant and a food rescue resource to redirect perfectly good & edible, but historically discarded food from a landfill to feeding hungry people." * In 2014, Forgotten Harvest received a Governor's Service Award from

Michigan Governor The governor of Michigan is the head of government of the U.S. state of Michigan. The current governor is Gretchen Whitmer, a member of the Democratic Party, who was inaugurated on January 1, 2019, as the state's 49th governor. She was re-elect ...

Rick Snyder Richard Dale Snyder (born August 19, 1958) is an American business executive, venture capitalist, attorney, accountant, and politician who served as the 48th governor of Michigan from 2011 to 2019. Snyder, who was born in Battle Creek, Michigan, ...

for "Outstanding Volunteer Program."

References

{{Reflist

External links

Forgotten Harvest website

Forgotten Harvest Canada website

Charity Navigator page for Forgotten Harvest
Food banks in Michigan Non-profit organizations based in Michigan