When Food Forward rescues surplus produce, we’re reducing the greenhouse gas emissions caused by waste in landfills, thus mitigating some of the effects of climate change. —2023 Annual Impact Report

Blue skies above and a soft breeze. A trill of birds from the neighborhood rooftops. The sweet smell of orange blossoms. I am in my happy place—I am out with the trees.

Being a backyard harvest leader for the North Hollywood–based nonprofit Food Forward has been one of my longtime volunteer gigs. Over the past decade, I have learned about and picked fruit that I, the sheltered Midwesterner, never knew existed: persimmons, pomegranates, pineapple guavas, kumquats and sapotes.

I have also met and worked alongside cool volunteers of all ages, swapping food stories as we navigate tree branches with long-handled pickers and avoid falling pomelos. Sometimes I am solo (thanks, COVID!) and sometimes I lead small groups. Other times, I help out with large gleans at the Huntington Library’s gardens, Cal State Northridge and Franklin Canyon Orange Grove, part of the Los Angeles Parks Foundation.

I learned about Food Forward about 12 years ago while researching organizations that welcome kids to participate in service projects. I joined a Food Forward harvest to observe the simple process: pick fruit, put in boxes and deliver to food agencies that support people who are food insecure. It was so simple and satisfied my hatred of wasting perfectly good food.

And this goes to people who need it? Yes!

I was hooked.

Over the years, I have watched the evolution of this nonprofit, which officially started in 2009 as a grassroots “hobby” by food-conscious neighbors.

First came the branded Food Forward harvest boxes. Then, a main headquarters dubbed the Fruit Cave opened. Finally, Food Forward vans hit the streets; today there is even an electric one, dubbed the “Juice Box.”

Food Forward’s reach began in the San Fernando Valley, but soon other areas—like San Gabriel Valley, Long Beach and Ventura County— were added to the mix so homeowners, volunteers and receiving agencies could band together to stop food waste and feed people. In 2023, volunteers harvested at 850 events in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, according to the organization’s 2023 Annual Impact Report.

It was only natural for Food Forward to spread into farmers’ markets (including Encino, Studio City and Thousand Oaks, etc.), partnering with farmers who at the end of the day didn’t want to cart back unsold fruit and veggies. Volunteers happily take the produce from the farmers.

I sat down with Chief Operating Officer Kristen Johnson to learn how the organization continues to honor its roots of saving fruit, feeding people and partnering with other nonprofits to get the job done.

“These are beautiful items. This is stuff that we are giving with dignity. It’s not seconds.” —Kristen Johnson

EDIBLE: Let’s talk numbers! What’s the bottom line?

KJ: Last year, we recovered over 87 million pounds of food and about a million of those came from our backyard harvest and farmers’ market programs. That’s a crazy volume and nothing to sneeze at. A majority of it is done by volunteers. All done by hand. [One pound of produce is just over five servings per the World Health Organization, meaning over 435 million servings of fruits and vegetables were donated to food-insecure communities in 2023.]

EDIBLE: And the other amount came from?

KJ: Our market wholesale recovery—that’s a big expansion for us. We have a team of 18 in our Produce Pit warehouse and have developed relationships with wholesalers at the terminal market and around the area. We do about two million pounds a week of food recovery. Our physical warehouse is in Bell; it’s 10,000 square feet, and about 3,300 of it is refrigerated. So we have a lot of flexibility in what we can take and store.

EDIBLE: What’s it like being in the downtown wholesale market?

KJ: It’s organized chaos. It’s hard to understand what two million pounds a week looks like. To see unsold food not dumped is fantastic. There is a bit of stigma about food recovery, that we’re handing out food you might not want in your fridge, but “it’s OK for someone else.” That’s not the case. These are beautiful items. This is stuff that we are giving with dignity. It’s not seconds.

EDIBLE: What else is on the horizon?

KJ: We want to reinstate corporate volunteer opportunities, something we dabbled in in pre-pandemic times. Our backyard harvest and farmers’ market programs continue to grow; we are expanding into several more farmers’ markets this year.

Overall, we work with about 265 receiving agencies across 13 counties. We are also working on a mapping project to be intentional about how we are getting food into the areas of highest need and limiting food miles and managing our carbon footprint.

We keep thinking about how we can take things from a place of abundance to a place of need. We work with many organizations in the San Fernando Valley, including MEND (Meet Each Need with Dignity) and Seeds of Hope, West Valley Food Pantry, Bernardi Multi-Purpose Service Center and more.

But Food Forward is an organization that continues to entice young people, students and older, retired people. Our volunteers get to pick their own harvest adventure when it works for them. It’s as often or infrequent as you want.

EDIBLE: Any last words?

KJ: It is a really special thing when after a backyard harvest a person from an agency tells you what they can do with the produce. Sometimes it is served as part of meals for folks in need, sometimes it goes to food pantries and sometimes agencies use the produce to make juice to distribute to their recipients. There is so much dignity in fresh produce.

• For more information, visit FoodForward.org.