Suffolk County Executive Bellone, Stop & Shop, Island Harvest & Long Island Farmers Work to Reduce Food Waste

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone joined by Randi Shubin Dresner, president and CEO, Island Harvest Food Bank; Don Sussman, President of New York Metro Division of Stop & Shop, and Rob Carpenter, Administrative Director of the Long Island Farm Bureau, commends Stop & Shop and the Long Island Farm Bureau for their efforts to reduce food waste and for the assistance they provide to Island Harvest in helping to support the 316,000 Long Islanders who are identified as food insecure.

Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone, Island Harvest Food Bank, Stop & Shop, the Long Island Farm Bureau (LIFB) and anti-hunger advocates joined to applaud local efforts in reducing food waste on Long Island by providing innovative solutions to help support approximately 316,000 Long Islanders identified as food insecure.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) estimates that approximately 30–40 percent of food in the United States goes to waste each year. Much of that food is sent to landfills, when it could have helped families in need. According to the USDA, wasted food is the largest component of trash entering municipal landfills.

In 2015, Stop & Shop’s “Meat the Needs” program provided Island Harvest Food Bank with more than 505,000 pounds of beef, poultry and pork; since the start of the initiative in 2008, it has provided more than 1.8 million pounds of meat.

“Meat the Needs” allows Stop & Shop to remove meat from refrigerated shelves just ahead of its expiration date, and freeze it instead of discarding it. The meat is then donated to Island Harvest Food Bank, which, in turn, distributes it frozen to its network of member agencies in Nassau and Suffolk counties. Stop & Shop has expanded the program, leading to the donation of more than two million pounds of beef, poultry and pork to food banks in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Locally, “Meat the Needs” has also had a positive environmental impact, reducing by 3,292 tons the amount of wasted food that otherwise would have been deposited in Suffolk County landfills in 2015.

“Stop & Shop is proud that the proactive efforts of our meat managers has enabled us to provide much needed protein to Island Harvest which has allowed them to provide meals to Long Island residents in need,” said Don Sussman, President of New York Metro Division of Stop & Shop. “In addition to Meat the Needs helping to feed the hungry, Stop & Shop is pleased that our efforts have benefited the environment.”

In 2015, the LIFB and its members donated to Island Harvest more than 2 million pounds of fresh, locally grown surplus produce that would have otherwise been left to rot in the fields, or carted off to local landfills. Since establishing the partnership with Island Harvest Food Bank in 2008, Long Island’s farmers have donated approximately 11 million pounds of fruits and vegetables, making this initiative among the largest farm-to-food-bank programs in New York State.

“With more than 300,000 Long Islanders classified as food insecure, our food banks are always exploring creative ways to meet demand,” said Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone. “Stop & Shop’s “Meat the Needs” program and the Long Island farmers significant donation of fresh, locally-grown produce, helps put food on the tables of families in need, while reducing the amount of food deposited in our local landfills. I commend Stop & Shop, Island Harvest Food Bank, and the LIFB for their solutions-based approach to combating hunger and reducing food waste on Long Island.”

“Cumulatively, Stop & Shop’s “Meat the Needs” program, and the donations by Long Island’s farming industry, supplemented approximately 1,950,935 meals in 2015 alone with much needed protein and fresh fruits and vegetables,” explained Randi Shubin Dresner, president and CEO, Island Harvest Food Bank. “The efforts of just these two organizations are having a tangible impact on our efforts to improve the nutritional intake of hose we serve, while lessening the amount of food that may end up in the landfill.”