BISMARCK, ND ( KXNET ) — This year, the Great Plains Food Bank is celebrating 15 years for the success of their food recovery program across the state, which has grown immensely over the years to serve many families in the community that are in need.
According to Feeding America, more than 92 billion pounds of food goes uneaten and into the garbage, which is almost 40% of the nation’s food supply. Here in North Dakota, the Great Plains Food Bank has been working to rescue food from groceries stores that is still safe and edible. Those food items are then donated.
In the Bismarck-Mandan area, they have a small staff, including two truck drivers who make daily runs to pick up surplus, mislabeled, and perishable food products from local grocery stores, no longer available for purchase. As the program has grown immensely over the years, a distribution center has been added to safely store the large volume of groceries rescued, including fresh and perishable food.
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Mandy Cherney, Bismarck Operations Manager of the Great Plains Food Bank, says some of the food donated requires refrigeration, which their distribution center offers. “I think we’ve been able to serve our neighbors a lot better and a lot more efficiently having this space. The food that goes through this program is over a million pounds, that are rescued each year with one driver and one truck,” Cherney said…