Chairperson Message
Having been fortunate enough to have Food Forward included at the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health in fall 2022, it’s inspiring to report the event galvanized people from all demographics, sectors, and geographies to elevate actions and innovations around food insecurity. Where the terms “produce prescriptions,” “scaling,” and “food is medicine” echoed from every corner of the conference center, it was gratifying to know that for our entire fourteen years we at Food Forward have been ahead of the curve.
We have always seen our food as medicine. Through the last three years of historic worldwide health and supply chain challenges, as the nation’s largest independent urban and plant-based recovery nonprofit, Food Forward has already been scaling. Having recovered and distributed over 72 million pounds of A+ grade fresh produce last year alone, we can confidently say we are an efficient, proven solution to the dual problems of hunger and food waste.
Food Forward on an average day is now responsible for moving enough produce to satisfy the daily nutritional needs of over 220,000 people (up from 150,000 the year before). In 2022, these were people in Los Angeles, plus seven other urban and rural California counties, and six adjoining states and tribal lands. Our deepened impact has been the result of weaving a top-notch staff of veterans with folks totally new to the sector—all fiercely devoted to our mission. The collective result has been a brain trust and organizational muscle we’ve never had before.
As last year closed out and we moved on from the triage mode that led us to nearly triple our impact from pre-pandemic levels, we took the time and expense to make several deep dives into our mountain of historic data; solo and together, with some outside assessments, including pro bono modeling done by McKinsey & Company, Inc. Looking under the hood, we learned things like:
- For 2022’s budget of $5.2M—we produced nearly $140M in social impact through our free produce.
- Food Forward is not just “net zero,” but our operations organization-wide are 215x carbon negative.
- Even with the tens of millions of pounds of fresh produce we distribute to underserved areas across Los Angeles County, we have gaps in our service area, which we are committed to addressing as our supply of fresh produce grows.
Taking this and more into account, we ended 2022 with a newly minted three-year strategic plan we set out to grow deeper roots in 2023, while setting us up to support wider branches of expansion in 2024 and 2025.
Food Forward has emerged from the pandemic years more potent, nimble, and impactful, serving incredibly diverse communities experiencing food insecurity. We are also grateful for the thousands of supporters and volunteers who helped us hold nearly 2,000 gleaning events in 2022, such as the one who wrote us personally this summer:
“Last year I lost several family members...I cried so many mornings out in orchards with tangerines in my hands. I might be saving the fruit, but really, I think the fruit has saved me.”
Food Forward. Moving produce from a place of abundance to a place of need. It is indeed a virtuous circle…
Rick Nahmias, Founder/CEO
Rob Valencia, Board Chairperson
“This is the only place I have worked that makes an effort to include everyone despite their language. I’ve never had interpretation in any of my other jobs; they’ve just expected you to speak whatever everyone else speaks.”
Vivian Poonsopin
Food Forward staff
Coming out of the emergency expansion in 2019, it was our responsibility to step into this new reality by looking inwards. With our team growing by 54% in 2022, we refreshed our core values to reflect this new phase for the organization, while investing in the staff and overall systems to support our team’s tremendous work. This included facing the inflation crisis head on; implementing a cost of living increase for all staff in 2022 and supporting their diverse needs with professional development partnerships, bilingual services, and accessibility tools. We look forward to building on this effort on both the staff and board level. Some of our 2022 partners included the Center for Nonprofit Management, Jamii, HBCUConnect, and Trabajamos.
Our Core Values
Community Engagement
Working together, we inspire and are inspired by the people in the communities we serve.
Equity and Inclusion
We cultivate a diverse workforce that nurtures equity and inclusion.
Food Justice
We share the abundance of fresh produce and prevent food waste because everyone deserves access to fresh and nutritious food.
Integrity
We are honest, accountable, and authentic in our words and actions.
Joyfulness
We embrace a creative, spirited, and fulfilling environment.
Food Forward is Southern California’s largest independent produce reclamation and urban gleaning organization devoted exclusively to bringing healthy fresh produce to food insecure communities. In 2022, Food Forward increased its distribution by more than 5.2 million pounds from 2021.
In addition to eight California counties, Food Forward also served six neighboring states (Arizona, Nevada, Utah, and Washington) and tribal lands (New Mexico [Navajo] and Oklahoma [Cherokee]) in 2022.
Awards and Brand Partners
Food Forward collaborates with a variety of like-minded brands to create partnerships that raise awareness about our vital and sustainable work in the community. Some exciting projects to note include our longstanding and fruitful partnership with Smog City Brewing Co. on the release of their Kumquat Saison benefitting Food Forward. We're also a community partner of the newly formed National Women's Soccer League team, Angel City Football Club, and vitamin brand, Ritual. Many Los Angeles and Ventura-based companies continue to support Food Forward through beneficiary promotions including Eataly LA, The Garland Hotel, Topa Topa Brewery, Angel City Brewery, and more!
Legacy Program Champion
Project Innovation Program
Humanitarian Action & Services (Silver)Sustainability, Climate & Environment (Gold)
Proud 1% for the Planet Environmental Partner since 2017
What began as a small group of volunteers in 2009 has now blossomed into a dedicated community of hundreds of volunteers.
Volunteer Leader who led 124 harvests in 2022
“I love seeing the whole process, from fruit pick to dropoff. It’s such a great feeling picking the fruit, dropping it off at the hunger relief agency, and seeing how excited they are with every delivery and how fast they can give it away. It’s backyard to table!”
Ceci Mak
Volunteer Pick Leader
676 fruit tree donors
“Food Forward is doing great work. The harvests at my parents’ grapefruit tree grove are highlights in their year. Their grove was planted somewhere between 98 and 100 years ago, so to see how it continues to bear fruit to fight food insecurity a hundred years later has been inspirational.”
Steve Ramseyer
Fruit tree donor
A record 1,217 volunteer events
“Our volunteers, fruit donors, and agency partners generously donate time and resources to make our Backyard Harvest Program so fruitful. Each of these dedicated community members brings a piece of the puzzle to rescue fruit and share abundance with our neighbors.”
Ally Gialketsis
Food Forward staff
Ten years since the program launched in 2012, a record 57 new Glean Team Leaders signed on in 2022 to lead 687 gleans of unsold fresh fruits and vegetables from Los Angeles and Ventura County markets.
2 million servings of fruits and vegetables recovered through gleaning
“Mar Vista Farmers Market is bursting with pride to have partnered with Food Forward since 2013. Ten years of awe inspiring results and profound impact in food recovery felt at the community level is a beautiful feat! This is connection and good work at its best.”
Diana Rodgers
Executive Director, Mar Vista Certified Farmers Market
“I share abundance by sharing time. But it’s a circular event in that the time spent planting, harvesting and gleaning at Food Forward returns to me as an abundance of joy!”
Kathy Helms
Farmers Market Glean Team Leader
Food Forward launched its Wholesale Recovery Program in 2014 and the volume of recovered pallets and truckloads of produce surged with the opening of its Produce Pit Stop refrigerated warehouse in 2019. Food Forward now recovers from growers and distributors across the region.
Growing Capacity: Expansion at the Produce Pit Stop
226 different varieties of produce recovered in 2022
In 2022, the Wholesale Recovery Program invested in critical infrastructure and increased distributions to partner agencies by 7.62%. We added a second refrigerator at the Produce Pit Stop—this one 1,750 square feet, more than doubling our refrigeration capacity—as well as reconfiguring office space, adding safety improvements, and reforming workflows. While partners in Los Angeles County received the majority of the recovered produce, Food Forward was able to expand distributions for farmworker communities in Kern, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, and Ventura counties. We also launched a partnership with Brighter Bites as their exclusive produce supplier of fresh fruits and vegetables for their nutrition education programs for students and families in 12 Los Angeles County schools.
“With limited government assistance many farmworker families have found themselves lacking nutritious food and other basic necessities. Food Forward has played a critical role in filling such gaps in keeping our communities whole and healthy. Working with Food Forward has been an honor and a pleasure.“
Mily Treviño-Sauceda
Alianza Nacional de Campesinas
Agency Relations
Served 264 hunger relief partners across 313 sites
Food Forward’s agency relations team ensures that distributions reach our valued network of hundreds of hunger relief organizations by maintaining collaborative relationships. In 2022, the team returned to in-person visits and more frequent outreach to learn more about our partners’ programs and ensure Food Forward’s produce donations meet the needs in their communities.
Produce Ambassadorship
In 2022, we expanded outreach to the produce industry to position Food Forward as a partner in sustainability, and we have built stronger relationships with industry leaders in order to increase the supply of produce we recover. We brought on a new advisor, our “Produce Ambassador,” and joined the International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA), earned press coverage from trade press, and started to see increasing volumes of fresh fruits and vegetables from new produce donors.
“We view Food Forward as so much more than simply a produce supplier; they are our strategic partners that help us move excess produce in our facility to food insecure families. They operate with integrity, intelligence, and compassion. We are proud to be aligned with them.”
David Lake
President, 4Earth Farms
Every contribution to Food Forward results in multiple servings of fresh, healthy food distributed to people experiencing food insecurity. Food Forward’s operation is extremely efficient: In 2022, it cost just $.07 in operational costs to recover and distribute a pound of fruits and vegetables. With expenses of just $5.2 million, Food Forward returned a social impact value of $138,917,167 (value of in-kind produce) to communities across the region.
The following illustrates the sources of Food Forward’s funding and expenses for 2022. Food Forward is grateful to the thousands of people who supported our mission.
Make an impact
For more information, contact Chief Development Officer Jen Cox at [email protected]
To make a financial contribution and support the Food Forward mission, please visit foodforward.org/give
Thank you for helping us move Food Forward.
Food Forward is grateful to all of the incredible people helping achieve our mission every day, including our volunteers, hunger relief partners, and produce donors. A special thanks to our financial supporters who power our operation.
2022 Donors
*Acknowledges a donor who made a monthly gift in 2022
This list recognizes donors who gave $500 or more from January 1 - December 31, 2022. Please contact our Development team at (818) 764-1022 ext. 111 or [email protected] with any inaccuracies or omissions. We regret any errors.
Staff
- Natalie Arbogast
- Simon Bergara
- Sam Cahall
- Alejandro Calderon-Gamboa
- Jen Cox
- Caitlin English
- Melina Finck
- Jose Flores
- Diego Frankel
- Daniel Gallegos
- Allison Garlick
- Ally Gialketsis
- Merced Giles Bonfil
- Diane Helfrey
- LaNeisha Hodo
- Andrea Howry
- Nancy Hsu
- Jodi Jacobsen
- Kristen Johnson
- Manuel Lerma
- Griffin Maduzia
- Felipe Maldonado
- Omar Moreira
- Rick Nahmias
- Nkemdilim Nwosu
- Jose Luis Osorio Mayorga
- Aubrey Pacheco-Dul
- Leo Paz
- Vivian Poonsopin
- J. Guadalupe Rodriquez Lozano
- Gabi Silva Hernandez
- Liz Sommer
- Betsy Storm
- Janet Sudo
- Pearl Talavera
- Samantha Teslik
- Kelsey Thackery
- Mauricio Torres
- Sierra Trujillo
- Antonio Velasquez
- Christopher Wehling
- Amir Zambrano
Board of Directors
- Christy Remey Chin, Treasurer
- Jason Crayne
- Jedd Gold
- Carol Goldstein
- Neil Haltrecht
- Jeff Harris
- Carla Heer
- Scott Jarus
- Brian Lazarus
- Cindy Lee
- Shari Leinwand
- Rick Nahmias, Founder/CEO
- Mark Rhein, Secretary
- Rob Valencia, Chair
- Donella Wilson
- Betty Zamorano-Pedregon
- Pam Kaizer (honorary)
*Staff and Board of Directors list as of December 2022. View current team list.
Food Forward's 2023-2025 Strategic Plan
We enter 2023 having reached an astounding level of impact: Food Forward has rescued more than 300 million pounds of fresh produce since its founding and distributed that abundance to hunger relief partners in Los Angeles and across the region. That’s the equivalent of nearly 1.7 billion servings of fruits and vegetables—as well as the prevention of the emissions of 267,000 metric tons of CO2 equivalent that would contribute to climate change.
Our effective and efficient produce donation operation is helping people every day. At the same time, the growth of Food Forward’s food recovery is illustrating how this intervention in the nation’s food system can continue to be scaled to address health equity and nutrition, reduce climate impact, and rethink how we use good food that so often goes to waste.
The Food Forward Board of Directors approved a new Strategic Plan for 2023-2025 that sets an ambitious three-year goal: to recover and distribute 270 million pounds of fresh fruits and vegetables to hunger relief partners—nearly equal the volume accomplished in the first 14 years of the organization. This next phase will continue a trajectory of growth in impact as we increase the amount of food we recover, the communities we serve, and the efficiency of our operation.
Innovative and responsive action will address key objectives organized as pillars of the strategic plan: Fight Hunger, Prevent Food Waste, Inspire Others and Connect with Community, and Invest in the Future.
Join us in this mission to serve communities experiencing food insecurity and mitigating climate change and reduce food waste.
Make an impact
Volunteer
Inspire Others
Register Your Trees
Produce Industry
Support food insecure communities and reduce food waste
About The Art In This Report
Food Forward was proud to partner with artist Brian Peterson whose humanitarian work captured the essence of Food Forward’s fight for food justice through the installation of the 60 by 20 foot Share the Abundance™ mural at Food Forward’s Produce Pit Stop in Bell, California.
Behind the scenes and bonus material:
Meet the Artist
Muralist at work
“As an artist, there are rare occasions when a project resonates deeply with both your passion and talent. This was precisely the case when I had the opportunity to collaborate with Food Forward. Throughout our initial meeting and the eventual installation of the mural, our discussions revolved around the significance of healthy food and its impact on the families they serve. During my time on-site painting, I was constantly surrounded by fresh produce and the dedicated staff and volunteers who were committed to both the success of the mural and the daily activities of Food Forward. As I added color and depth to the refrigerator mural wall, my connection to the organization’s mission of improving the lives of families in the SoCal region grew stronger. On behalf of Brian Peterson Art, we are forever grateful to creatively visualize all that Food Forward has worked so hard to achieve.”
How will you Share the Abundance™?
Volunteer
Inspire Others
Register Your Trees
Produce Industry
Support food insecure communities and reduce food waste
Featured Artwork
Brian Peterson Art
Share the Abundance™ Mural, 2022
Spray paint on sheet metal
60’ by 20’
Installed by the artist on location at Food Forward’s Produce Pit Stop in Bell, CA
© 2022 Brian Peterson Art and Food Forward, Inc., All Rights Reserved. foodforward.org
Proud 1% for the Planet Environmental Partner since 2017
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Food Recovery Challenge Recipient 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021
Annual Impact Report Design by Marie Ramos