How local groups are working to rescue food and reduce waste

Megan Raposa -

Simplified: A community effort to reduce food waste is expanding this year after initial successes, and new partnerships are keeping thousands of pounds of food out of the regional landfill. Here's what you need to know about the organizations behind this effort: Food Rescue 605 and Bread Break.

Why it matters

  • Between 30 and 40% of all food produced for human consumption goes to waste, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). That ranges from produce that goes to rot in the field to restaurant meals that went unsold or uneaten.
    • Meanwhile, data from a 2022 Augustana Research study shows that 17% (or about 1 in 6) kids in Sioux Falls face food insecurity, meaning they don't have consistent access to enough food for a healthy, active life, per the USDA definition.
  • That's why groups like Bread Break – a group that drives around to places with excess food and delivers that food to folks who need it – exist. The nonprofit is also working this year alongside Food Rescue 605, an effort developed under Sioux Falls Thrive as a way to rescue produce that would otherwise go to rot in local fields.
  • In addition, Bread Break Executive Director Pam Cole said the organization is working to spearhead a local version of the Food Rescue US app to help connect available food with volunteers who can help deliver it where it can be eaten instead of wasted.
"The big thing is how blessed we are as a community that embraces partnerships and collaboration," said Julie Becker, executive director of the St. Francis House, another local organization helping to prevent food waste.

What does reducing food waste actually look like?

It can be as simple as picking up Little Caesar's pizzas that didn't sell and delivering them to a local shelter – one of the examples Cole shared of Bread Break's work.

  • Bread Break has saved more than 2.5 million pounds of food in its 11 years in operation, and the nonprofit has volunteers who transport food seven days a week. Last year alone the organization saved 300,000 pounds of food from going to the landfill.

Or maybe it's going out to a pumpkin patch at the end of the season and picking some of the "ugly" pumpkins that didn't get selected by visiting families, said Michelle Erpenbach, president of Sioux Falls Thrive.

  • The Food Rescue 605 saved more than 200 pounds of produce during a pilot project last fall, resulting in dozens of jars of salsa, marinara sauce, ratatouille and more.
  • Volunteers used the kitchen at a local church to prepare the produce, and then it was distributed with the help of the Eat Well Mobile Market.

At the St. Francis House, some days it looks like unloading pallets of frozen chicken drummies off of a truck.

  • Becker learned that sometimes trucks delivering food end up having their loads rejected by grocers. Maybe the boxes were dented or the food wasn't up to their standard, but it's all still perfectly edible, Becker said.
  • So she started getting the word out that the St. Francis House would happily take and distribute the food on those trucks so it didn't go into the garbage. Becker said she's had everything from the chicken drummies to crates of peaches to cases of Girl Scout cookies.

What happens next?

More community collaboration.

  • All of the speakers Thursday during the Big Sioux Stewardship Summit stressed the importance of everyone working together in small ways to make a real impact.
"That's really how collective impact works," Erpenbach said.

The goal is to have the Food Rescue app available community-wide in the coming months, as it's already available to some Bread Break volunteers as a communication hub.

  • Erpenbach said eventually the hope is it'll function almost like a volunteer Door Dash where folks who have some time available can hop on the app, see where food is available and where it needs to be delivered to, and go sign up for the job.