Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Sharing Excess works to rescue and repurpose surplus food away from landfills. Now with a permanent warehouse, food delivery van, and their first wholesale partnership, the organization hopes to expand their model to cities across the country.
Share Share began in 2018, when a group of college students at Drexel University came together to address food insecurity on campus and in the village near West Philadelphia. “We have always believed in the fact that young people are the catalysts for meaningful change,” said Evan Ehlers, Founder of Sharing Excess, Food Tank. Over the past two years, the Greater Share has grown to become one of the largest food rescue projects in Philadelphia.
During the outbreak, Ehlers Food Tank said, “not a single service was provided to ensure that 100 percent of food waste was captured.” While some businesses switched to pickup or delivery nearby, others had to close temporarily, leaving a lot of food to rot. According to Feeding America, food insecurity increased by 50 percent during the pandemic and one in five Americans began turning to food banks, food stores, and other food assistance programs. .
Ehlers and his team responded by distributing food waste from restaurants and grocery stores to the community. An article by the Philadelphia Inquirer highlighted the work of Sharing Excess—and as a result, in just one day, 100 new volunteers signed up to work with the organization. The group was flooded with calls from local businessmen, requesting their services. The conclusion of the article, said Ehlers, is a “call to action” and allows the Share Increase to increase activity.
Throughout the pandemic, Sharing Excess distributed 3.6 million kilograms of food – equivalent to US $15.5 million – and ensured that it did not end up in landfills, which would emit harmful gases. They bought their first warehouse and got a food donation van from Philabundance, a food bank and Feeding America partner. They also worked with over 200 food banks, community organizations, and cooperative efforts. Overall, Sharing Excess reports an increase of more than 400 percent.
The Distributor continued to expand its operations through a partnership with the Philadelphia Wholesale Produce Market, one of the largest produce markets in the United States. State. Since the start of their rescue operation in mid-2021, the organization has rescued and redistributed more than 2.2 million kilograms of food.
Through their ongoing partnership, Sharing Excess is able to recover nutritious food and bring it directly to the villages. Their volunteers organized random events where members of the community could choose what to take home. They also host free potlucks, workshops to inform community members about food waste in their city and how to deal with it.
“We are trying to demystify the distribution process and provide more opportunities for cultural communication,” said Ehlers Food Tank. At food distribution sites, Sharing Excess volunteers thank the community for being part of the food waste solution.
Ehlers explains that Sharing Excess is also developing technology to “make it easier for the public to get involved in saving food.”
They recently launched the Food Rescue App, an open access site where members of the community can coordinate their own pickups and deliveries. The app tracks daily activities and provides volunteers with individual instructions. “We want to improve the existing infrastructure of food banks, food businesses, and cooperatives and take on the burden of the most difficult things,” said Ehlers Food Tank.
Ryan McHenry, Director of Technology at Shared Services, designed the app with support from 100 students from Drexel University. “The architecture we chose … provides an approachable, yet powerful and extensible architecture for the growth of our app, and for our engineering students to live with it,” McHenry wrote.
Ehlers said that the app is open source “so that the technologists can take it and run with it, to change the app in a way that helps to be the best.” Currently, Sharing Excess is partnering with ReFED and DoorDash: Project DASH, whose teams help develop and improve the app.
Ehlers Food Tank says they hope to work with big tech companies that can bring the app to the public and establish more food rescues in cities like New York, Boston, Dallas, Salt Lake City, and Denver . They also hope to set up what they call food rescue centers. These community-based organizations will be an opportunity for volunteers to interact with the community.
Before trying to expand, Ehlers emphasized the importance of developing a comprehensive and scalable model in Philadelphia. “The expansion of our country depends on going to one area first. We want to develop a very sustainable model before expanding.”
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Photo courtesy of Sharing Excess
