People are hungry, and food is being wasted

It’s no big revelation that New Yorkers like to eat, and it’s no big surprise that the restaurants we eat at tend to toss out a huge amount of our leftovers. Every day, City Harvest picks up more than 50,000 pounds of wasted edibles, delivering them to about 600 soup kitchens and food pantries. But rising food and fuel prices have hit such distribution groups hard, just as the real value of food stamps is declining and demand for food relief is going up. In addition to cleaning your plate, here’s how you can help.

Just ask for a doggie bag. “Many people doom themselves to waste food by the way they shop, make dinner or order in restaurants,” says Jonathan Bloom, who launched the blog Wasted Food (wastedfood.com) in 2006. “There’s a bit of a stigma in taking food home—people don’t want to seem gauche, so they throw away what could be tomorrow’s lunch.” Not the type to leave any leftovers? Then you’re in luck: This month, during two New York City Restaurant Weeks (Monday 21–July 25 and July 28–August 1), you can save food by eating food; a partnership with American Express means that diners who pay with their cards donate 50¢ of the price of their meal to City Harvest (cityharvest.org).

Moving? Cleaning? Donate those Goya cans hiding in the back of your kitchen cabinet. The Food Bank for New York City (foodbanknyc.org) can tell you where to bring them. Go to the website, look at the Individual Food Donations page and type in your zip code—you’ll get a list of local soup kitchens and pantries where you can drop off your boxes. No extra food? No problem. Many organizations can use financial donations as well. Skip your 4pm Yolato run and give a few bucks to people who are really hungry. Or contact the Food Bank of Central New York ((foodbankcny.org); it’ll help you auction off your car, then give you the tax deduction and use the proceeds for its operations.

Volunteer. The NYC Coalition Against Hunger website (nyccah.org) can match you with open slots at area pantries and kitchens (as can volunteer clearinghouse New York Cares; see nycares.org). Another option is to organize a food drive at your office or apartment block. The City Harvest website offers advice on planning a drive, from site selection to incentive tips, such as changing daily calls for food (for example, if it’s Tuesday, think tuna). You could also lean on your favorite restaurant to support a local food pantry or soup kitchen. Alert them to the tax-break potential and overhead-cost reductions, as well as the warm glow of altruism.

—Ben Walters

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