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Governor Tom Wolf, First Lady Frances Wolf, and Secretary of Agriculture Russell Redding today visited Sharing Excess, a food rescue organization, to highlight the innovative food security efforts they are feeding to Pennsylvanians and their legacy of work to improve access to food over the past seven years.

One of Governor Wolf’s first initiatives in 2015 was a comprehensive executive order addressing a multitude of food security and nutrition issues in the Commonwealth. He and the first lady have since worked year after year to improve food access, eliminate food deserts, and improve nutrition for Pennsylvanians. Most recently, these efforts include a new $1 million Hunger-Free Campus Initiative and a $2 million increase in funding for the Pennsylvania Agricultural Surplus System (PASS) in the final budget of – the governor.

“Since I took office, the fight against hunger has been first and foremost a priority for Frances and for me,” said Governor Wolf. “We put together a plan that worked to improve food access and affordability across the Commonwealth. I am so glad that the commonwealth is home to innovative people who share this priority. Together we can end hunger.”

“Sharing Excess meets an incredibly important need, and I am impressed and inspired by how they have turned their passion for people into an impactful organization,” said First Lady Wolf. “The idea of ​​this operation will help increase access to food, save what is wasted, and ultimately fight food insecurity in Pennsylvania.”

Sharing Excess began as a movement of Drexel University students working to address food insecurity on campus and in the surrounding West Philadelphia community. What started as a college meal sharing program has transformed into a food rescue operation. Within three years, the organization has evolved into a network of hundreds of grocers, restaurants, farmers and wholesalers – including those located in the Philadelphia Wholesale Market – that will contributing millions of pounds of saved food. Today, Sharing Excess donates an average of 100,000 pounds of food each week and is using its in-house technology to help other food rescue organizations do the same.

“Saving and redistributing excess food is not only sustainable, but it’s also the right thing humans do for each other,” said Sharing Excess Founder and Executive Director Evan Ehlers. “In the United States, we waste more than twice the amount of food that is needed to feed everyone who struggles with food insecurity.”

Since 2015, Governor Wolf and First Lady Wolf have worked to reduce barriers to food access, end food apartheid, invest in improved infrastructure for the charitable food system, and support improved access to local and nutritious produce for families across the Commonwealth.

Their legacy of working to improve food security in Pennsylvania includes:

In his final budget, Governor Wolf increased funding for PASS by $2 million, bringing the total budget to $4.5 million. PASS works to effectively provide a mechanism for the agriculture industry to donate safe and wholesome food products to the non-profit sector while being reimbursed for the costs involved in harvesting, processing , the packaging and transport of this food. Without PASS, these food products would otherwise be left to rot in the field, plowed under, discarded or landfilled. Under the Wolf Administration, PASS distributed more than 22 million pounds of surplus food from farmers to Pennsylvanians in need while simultaneously generating more than $39 million in economic output.

Additionally in the budget, Governor Wolf secured $1 million for Pennsylvania’s first Hunger-Free Campus Initiative to help schools create or expand campus food pantries to support 30% of -college students facing food insecurity.

“Food is a basic human right. As public servants, it is not only our duty, but our responsibility to address food insecurity and ensure that no Pennsylvanian goes hungry,” Redding said. “Governor Wolf met this challenge head on to remove the decisions that pay the bills or put food on the table.”

Photos from today’s visit can be found at www.pacast.com.

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