A volunteer-powered network is rescuing thousands of pounds of fresh, nutritious food from landfills each week and delivering it directly to people in need across the greater Lansing area.
Food Rescue US — Lansing Communities operates as a direct-transfer model using a smartphone app. Volunteers claim rescues, pick up surplus perishable food from commercial donors and deliver it the same day to social service agencies, all within a short 20- to 30-minute window to ensure freshness and food safety.
Valerie Lafferty, the site director and a volunteer with the group, said the organization, which launched from scratch about 2.5 years ago and serves Ingham, Eaton and Clinton counties, now has around 170 volunteers. They coordinate via an app that provides pickup and drop-off details, tracks the type and weight of food rescued, and calculates environmental impact.
Lafferty agreed that is comparable to "a food rescue, Uber type situation" — except it's entirely volunteer-driven and nonprofit.
"The volunteers are highly motivated. They ... have ... these core values that I've discovered a lot of us share ... they don't want to waste something good that's needed, and ... not wanting anyone to go hungry," she said. "We've never missed a rescue. We're nearing 4000 and it just shows you that they kind of show up because it's important for them."
In one recent week, volunteers completed 42 rescues, saving 9,144 pounds of food — the equivalent of about 7,620 meals valued at roughly $17,556. The group uses a ratio of 1.2 pounds per meal and tracks avoided methane emissions, noting that food in landfills produces methane reportedly 80 times more potent than carbon dioxide.
A recent survey of regular receiving agencies — about 30 that get at least one scheduled rescue per week, with some receiving up to four — found the food helps serve approximately 6,781 people. The network has served up to 50 agencies overall in the Tri-County area.
Donors include grocery stores, restaurants, schools, caterers, bakeries, meat markets, hospitals and institutions such as Michigan State University. The majority of rescued food is fresh produce, followed by dairy, baked goods and meats. Most items are high-quality perishables pulled from inventory cycles — not expired or unsafe — and many still carry "best used by" dates intended more for store tracking than food safety.
Agencies include food pantries, community kitchens, shelters, faith-based organizations and groups such as Mid-Michigan Recovery Services. Individuals in need must contact these agencies directly; the rescued food does not go to individuals from volunteers. The process is protected under the federal Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act, which encourages food donation.
Lafferty noted the model complements traditional food bank systems by focusing on quick-moving perishables that are difficult for warehouse-based programs to handle, especially on weekends or holidays. The service area has grown to about a 25-mile radius as new donors, volunteers and agencies are added, forming what she called a "three-legged stool" of donors, volunteers and receiving agencies.
Interest in similar efforts exists statewide, including licensees in Traverse City and Detroit, but Lafferty said a critical mass of volunteers is key to starting and sustaining operations. Michigan officials have highlighted food rescue as "low hanging fruit" for reducing landfill waste while addressing hunger, which has reportedly increased by about 20% in some measures.
Lafferty emphasized the triple win: feeding people, protecting the environment and preventing waste.
"There's still a lot of food going to waste, and we think a lot of it is maybe donors don't realize how easy it is to work with an agency such as ours, and that food is direly needed at receiving agencies," she said. "The hunger continues to grow. ... Our volunteers are so appreciative to get involved and to be part of this and to receive the grateful recognition they get on the other end, when they deliver it. We also get grateful recognition from the donors, because we ... go up on time, and we're not wasting the food, which they value very much. And so it's just a win win."
To get involved as a volunteer, donor or receiving agency, visit the Food Rescue US — Lansing Communities page at foodrescue.us/lansing-communities/ or contact Valerie Lafferty at lansingcommunitiesmi@foodrescue.us or 517-349-6660. Volunteers sign up via the app after a brief orientation and can fit rescues into their schedules.
The organization continues to build capacity with its growing volunteer base and welcomes new partnerships to expand impact in the region.