KarunaNews Story

Apps like Food Rescue Hero, Flashfood, Too Good To Go, and Olio that help redirect food to those who need it most are part of a growing wave of tech solutions addressing two intersecting crises: food waste and food insecurity. Up to 40% of food produced in the U.S. is wasted, while about 13.5 million households struggle with food insecurity. Food Rescue Hero, developed by 412 Food Rescue, is now used in more than two dozen North American cities, with a goal to expand to 100 cities in the next five years. It shows volunteers when and where food is available, and assigns routes to deliver it to food banks, shelters, or directly to community members, using GPS, AI-driven algorithms, and geolocation tools. “It’s a game-changing, powerful technology,” says Jake Tepperman, executive director of Chicago Food Rescue. With only two employees and no dedicated drivers, his team has been able to move the equivalent of 88,000 meals in under a year.