Good Food Belongs to the People of SW Ohio, not Landfill: Last Mile Food Rescue’s plan to rescue 6 million pounds by 2027.

Commodities

Practices

• Sustainable Communities: analysis of personal/family life, community services, leadership development, local and regional food systems, quality of life, social psychological indicators, food access and security, food loss and waste recovery/reduction, food loss and waste recovery/reduction

[caption id="attachment_1115112" align="alignnone"
width="225"]
Volunteer rescues from Trader Joe[/caption]

Last Mile Food Rescue’s (Last Mile) innovative model aims to keep
fresh, desirable food out of landfills by rescuing surplus food
from establishments like grocery stores, hospitals, stadiums, and
convenience stores, and redistributing it to agency partners who
serve the food insecure. This process of upcycling donated food
waste is a preferred solution on the EPA’s Wasted Food Scale.

Each year, over 700 Last Mile volunteers are directed using a
mobile app to pick up food at locations throughout the Greater
Cincinnati region and drop it off at over 100 recipient agencies,
including shelters, soup kitchens, and pantries. These recipient
partners then provide the food to the region’s food-insecure
population.

In 2024, Last Mile’s goal is to grow the amount of food kept out
of landfills by 25%, rescuing a total of 4 million pounds of
food. This follows a nearly 30% growth in pounds rescued from
2022 to 2023. Reaching this milestone will significantly reduce
the amount of food dumped, thereby reducing greenhouse gases,
while impacting the lives of the most vulnerable, including more
than 80,000 food-insecure children across the counties served.
Beyond 2024, Last Mile has the bold ambition to scale operations
to rescue 6 million pounds of food annually by 2027. Last Mile
cannot meet this goal without continued strategic investments as
well as educational programs and training opportunities for food
donors. The focus must be on attracting and retaining additional
food donors needed to reach the food rescue goal. Funds would
support the recruitment of new food donors, their onboarding,
training, and ongoing support designed to retain them long-term.

Additionally, Last Mile is partnering with two local agencies to
achieve these goals:

1. Hamilton County ReSource (ReSource) -
the County agency responsible for ensuring that the
County achieves state-mandated goals for recycling and waste
reduction.

2. Green Umbrella - the region’s climate collaborative.

Together, these two agencies in coordination with
Last Mile, will create training programs to educate
businesses and individuals in Southern Ohio on the importance of
eliminating food waste.

With a combination of this education and training, as well as
strategically focused work with food donors, Last Mile believes
it can reduce food waste by an additional 2 million pounds
annually, totaling 6 million pounds per year, reduce CO2
emissions by 3.24 million pounds total,
per year and serve as a model for other regions to
learn from as they seek to solve their own food
insecurity challenges.

With these objectives in mind, Last Mile respectfully requests
$641,371 to directly support its strategic expansion efforts and
its training and education partnership with ReSource and Green
Umbrella.

1. [caption id="attachment_1115216" align="alignnone"
   width="300"] Senators Sherrod Brown and Ron
   Wyden Delivering Food they rescued from Kroger with Last
   Mile. [/caption] [caption id="attachment_1115794"
   align="alignnone" width="300"] Green Umbrella 2024 Sustainability
   Summit[/caption] Eliminate Food Waste
   1. Increase Last Mile Food Donors (by 20%)
   2. Increase Food Donor Retention through streamlined
      processes and dedicated staff
   3. Educate the region on strategies to reduce food waste
   4. Deploy Training Activities Across the Greater Cincinnati
      Region
      • Plan and Host Two Food Waste Summits:
        • Host two Food Waste Summits in the Greater
          Cincinnati region (2025, 2027) with 300 participants
          each.
        • Focus on the tri-state region of KY, IN, and OH.
        • Invite experts and practitioners from across the
          Midwest and Appalachian regions.
        • Emphasize connecting various audiences, including
          producers, value-added and retail businesses,
          wholesale procurement, food rescue and redistribution
          partners, and retail consumers.
      • Plan and Host Six Short-Form Trainings:
        • Conduct six short-form trainings about food loss
          and waste reduction through the Regional Climate
          Collaborative (2026).
        • Target institutional members across sectors,
          including businesses, educational institutions, local
          governments, and nonprofit organizations.
      • Produce and Distribute a Toolkit:
        • Develop a toolkit defining best practices in food
          waste prevention, donation, and upcycling.
        • Share resources developed for and presented at
          the Summits and the short-form trainings.
        • Update the toolkit after each Summit.
      • Create and Launch a Public Education Campaign:
        • Develop a public education campaign about food
          waste reduction, primarily through prevention and
          upcycling.
        • Aim the campaign at household consumer audiences
          (2026).Through increased awareness, the region will
          support the reduction of food waste and promote food
          rescue on a larger scale.