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Fighting food waste

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The county recently awarded eight grants totaling $300,000 to organizations to collect, process, and redistribute surplus edible food to county residents.

About 40% of food goes to waste in the U.S., wasting money and the resources that go into growing and transporting our food. At the same time, more people are experiencing food insecurity. Partnering with food recovery organizations to increase access to healthy, culturally relevant food is one way the county is working to eliminate health disparities and meet climate-action and zero-waste goals.

Organizations will use the grants for freezers, cold storage, staffing, partnerships, and transportation to rescue more food and serve people in need. These grants will prevent 8 million pounds of food waste annually.

“Funding food rescue efforts transforms what would be waste into opportunity — cutting climate impacts while nourishing and supporting our local communities,” said Jenny Kedward, a county food waste prevention specialist.

guy checking food in a refrigerator

Freezers and cold storage at Pillsbury United Communities, which were purchased with a previous food rescue grant.

Hennepin County awarded eight food rescue grants totaling $300,000 for 2026. The following food security organizations received funding:

  • All Nations Youth and Community Assistance Program, serving north Minneapolis: $29,600 to support food rescue staffing and stabilize cold storage infrastructure at their food shelf.
  • Community Emergency Services Inc., serving south Minneapolis: $15,000 to add a freezer in their newly remodeled market and expand food rescue efforts.
  • East Side Neighborhood Services Inc., serving northeast Minneapolis: $54,000 to restore twice-per-month food deliveries to partners with a replacement box truck.
  • Harvest from the Heart at Church of the Incarnation, serving south Minneapolis: $120,000 to expand food rescue storage capacity and redistribution using a hub-and-spoke model in partnership with Twin Cities Food Justice.
  • Intercongregation Communities Association (ICA), serving the Minnetonka area: $20,000 to include local farm and agricultural businesses as partners in food donation and rescue.
  • North Suburban Emergency Assistance, serving Crystal: $18,500 to expand cold storage to support food rescue donations.
  • St. Louis Park Emergency Program Inc., serving St. Louis Park: $8,000 to replace an older freezer used to store rescued food.
  • Sisters Camelot, serving south Minneapolis: $34,900 to stabilize food rescue operations by repairing their box truck used for donation deliveries.

Learn more about the county’s food rescue efforts.