FOOD RECOVERY PROGRAM

Everyone deserves fresh produce, and we are committed to ensuring all Bay Area communities have reliable access to it. Since 2016, our award-winning Food Recovery Program has increased access to fresh produce for members of our community who experience food insecurity. Thanks to our merchants and our infrastructure, we can supply produce to a network of community nonprofits and service providers who can efficiently connect it to those most in need.

In 2024, The SF Market’s Food Recovery Program achieved the monumental milestone of recovering 9,000,000 pounds of fresh, culturally diverse produce that otherwise would have been diverted to the landfill, translating to approximately 7.5 million meals.

FOOD RECOVERY IS A VITAL PART OF A THRIVING FOOD SYSTEM. HERE’S HOW:

  • Improves Healthy Food Access
    Food recovery connects our food-insecure Bay Area neighbors with a variety of surplus fresh fruits, vegetables, dairy, and grocery items, increasing access to nourishing, culturally appropriate foods.
  • Reduces Environmental Impact
    Methane emissions from food waste are a significant contributor to climate change. When food is thrown away, the resources used to grow that food are also wasted. Food Recovery ensures good food is eaten and stays out of the landfill.
  • Saves Money for Merchants
    Like small businesses throughout the food system, our family-owned merchant businesses operate on narrow margins. Food recovery saves them money on waste disposal fees.
  • A Collective Effort
    We couldn’t do it without our community partners in Bayview Hunters Point and across the Bay Area, who pick up food and deliver it daily to their communities.

THE SF MARKET FOOD RECOVERY PROGRAM:

9 MILLION LBS. MILESTONE SNAPSHOT

In 2024, The SF Market’s Food Recovery Program achieved the monumental milestone of recovering 9,000,000 pounds of fresh, culturally diverse produce since the program’s launch in 2016.

Through partnerships with our dedicated merchants and community partners, the program recovers fresh surplus produce that would otherwise go to waste and redistributes it to those in need across the San Francisco and the greater Bay Area region. This milestone not only celebrates past achievements but also motivates ongoing efforts to build a more resilient food system for all.

9,000,000 POUNDS DONATED

That’s equal to:

7,500,000

MEALS*

WHAT A HAUL!

EQUIVALENT VOLUME: 209 FULLY LOADED 54′ REFRIGERATED TRACTOR-TRAILER TRUCKS **

OF CO2 EQUIVALENT AVERTED*
EQUIVALENT TO 496 PASSENGER VEHICLES
DRIVEN FOR ONE YEAR*

OLYMPIC SWIMMING
POOLS OF WATER
SAVED*
*90,680,000 gallons of water

The SF Market’s Food Recovery Program has:

DIFFERENT TYPES
OF PRODUCE

MELONS, BANANAS, ORANGES,
PINEAPPLE, GRAPES, MANGO, APPLES,
STRAWBERRIES, PEARS, LEMONS

LETTUCE, ONIONS, CUCUMBERS,
POTATOES, SQUASH, BEANS, TOMATOES,
BROCCOLI, PEPPERS, CABBAGE

MERCHANT BUSINESSES
PARTICIPATED

COMMUNITY                FUNDING
PARTNERS SERVED      PARTNERS

*Derived using the ReFED Impact Calculator
**  Cargo load from https://www.atsinc.com/blog/legal-axle-weight-limits-commercial-trucks-explained

SB1383 COMPLIANCE FOR MERCHANTS

As of January 1, 2024, California Senate Bill 1383 requires food generators to donate the maximum amount of surplus food to services that feed or distribute food to community members. Our Food Recovery Program supports our merchants in compliance with SB1383 by coordinating donations to local community organizations, tracking the amount, frequency, and types of food donated, and submitting timely reports to government agencies.

SUSTAINABILITY AT THE SF MARKET

Sustainability is one of our core values. We aim to support the grower community and make as little environmental impact as possible. As a key link between rural and urban food environments, we strive to leverage our unique position in the food system to scale sustainable impact. This includes critically examining our infrastructure and operations to identify opportunities to reduce environmental and societal effects, aligning with City and State goals around Zero Waste and Climate Action.

WASTE MANAGEMENT & RECYCLING

In 1996, the City and County of San Francisco invited The SF Market to serve as a pilot site for their now widely successful municipal green waste recycling program. Today, our Food Recovery Program furthers green waste reduction by connecting edible surplus produce to community partners working to address food security. Additionally, we collect hard-to-recycle materials like plastic shrink wrap from merchants to improve the efficiency of waste management solutions that wouldn’t be feasible on the scale of individual businesses.

ENERGY EFFICIENCY

In 2015, we opened the Bay Area’s first 100% food-focused LEED Gold Certified building. A Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council is achieved by scoring highly across various key environmental parameters, including Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Material & Resources, and Indoor Environmental Quality. This is not easy to accomplish in an industry with a lot of refrigeration and constant dock traffic. We continue to drive toward maximizing the energy efficiency of our buildings by assessing the potential for more efficient walk-in coolers and lighting, low-polluting refrigerants, and clean energy sources to power our buildings.

TRUCKING EMISSIONS

Transportation logistics are a critical aspect of the wholesale produce industry, as minimizing food miles and supply chain disruptions play a key role in connecting farms to markets in a sustainable and efficient manner. We closely monitor new and emerging regulations driving merchant fleet electrification, such as California Air Resources Board’s Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation, to ensure our long-term strategy for the Market remains nimble and responsive to emerging trends. This forward-thinking approach helps our merchants remain in regulatory compliance, carve a path to a cleaner environment, and adapt our infrastructure to an evolving transportation sector.