Thanks To Nonprofit, Excess Restaurant Food Feeds Stomachs, Not Landfills

Second Servings, a non-profit organization based in Houston, works with restaurants to collect excess food that would otherwise go to waste and distribute it to those in need.

The Hilton Americas Downtown alone donates around 680 pounds of unprepared food each month, according to ABC13 News. Executive Chef at Hilton Americas, Ruffy Suoaiman, says, "From where I came from we don't waste food, not at all. So when she told me about this I thought, thank God, we will find every way to save every food that we have here to give to them."

Founder of Second Servings, Barbara Bronstein, who founded the organization nearly two years ago, says, "I'm very proud because we're able to satisfy a need without costing a fortune. This is food destined for the landfill and now it's going to fill stomachs." According to Bronstein it costs just five cents a meal to get food from a donor to those in need.

The efforts of Bronstein's organization work to help address inadequate sharing, a key problem in the global food system. As Bronstein puts it, "I think it's a food distribution problem more so than a food shortage issue. There is plenty of food, and plenty of need, and if we can connect the dots and deliver that food to the people who need it, there wouldn't be a food insecurity issue."