Nearly 40% of the food grown in the U.S. goes uneaten. Food is wasted because of cosmetic standards, market changes, labor shortages, or weather disruptions. Food waste harms the environment, costs billions of dollars to dispose of, and denies hungry families the meals they desperately need. Your support allows the Society of St. Andrew to prevent waste at multiple points in the food system.
This summer in Washington, D.C., a group of teenagers gathered for a week of gleaning and learning at SoSA’s Harvest of Hope service-learning retreat. Each day, the campers filled a tiny “little library” style pantry outside the HoH host church in a residential neighborhood. They packed the tiny pantry with leftover food from their meals: apples, oranges, bananas, and individually packaged snacks. By evening every day, the food was gone. Neighbors knew to check the pantry and take what they needed so no food would go to waste.
On the farm level, gleaning is a practical solution for farmers. Sometimes, a farm yields more than was needed for a sales contract, or the produce doesn’t meet exact specifications for size, color, or weight. Labor shortages can leave fields unharvested. A farmers market might have fewer shoppers because of a rainy Saturday. Even a minor issue, like a truck’s refrigeration temperature being just one degree off, can cause perfectly good food to be rejected by a grocery distributor.
But your support rescues food through farmers market gleanings, unloading a truck full of rejected produce at a community crop drop, or educating teenagers about food insecurity and inspiring them to serve their neighbors generously. You make it possible for SoSA to meet people where they are—at the intersection of need and abundance.
SoSA Church Relations Director, Jennifer Davis Sensenig, says it best: “There is something wrong with a rich country that wastes 40% of the food we grow, while children, adults, and seniors face food insecurity. But we can change our habits, build compassionate connections, and discover a better path for our future together. SoSA has been connecting growers and faithful volunteers for more than 40 years to rescue nutritious food and get it to the tables of folks who are hungry. There’s something right about that.”
Whether a farmer is motivated by faith, sustainability, or just a tight schedule, your generosity ensures that good food never goes to waste. Every dollar you give, every hour you volunteer, builds a more caring food system for people in need.
This article was originally published in the Summer 2025 Quarterly Newsletter.