Volunteers spring into action with incredible initiative to save food from going to waste: 'The food is just in the wrong place'

A group in Cincinnati has come up with an incredible way to prevent waste after a major food festival.

The Taste of Cincinnati festival is the country's "longest-running outdoor culinary festival," according to CityBeat. Entry is free, and visitors can browse dozens of stalls, enjoying global cuisine and supporting local businesses.

But every food event is bound to have unsold meals left at the end of the day, which can result in food waste. That's where Last Mile Food Rescue comes in, preventing edible meals from ending up in the trash.

In an article by WCPO, the nonprofit group shared its tactics for ending food waste. Volunteers collect leftover food from the festival vendors, package it up, and deliver it to one of their 130 partner organizations for distribution to communities in need.

Throughout the year, volunteers deliver leftovers from "grocery stores, restaurants, event venues, and school and corporate cafeterias to the agencies battling food insecurity," according to the Last Mile website.

A fifth of food produced worldwide is wasted or lost. This amounts to 1 billion meals a day, according to the World Food Programme, which also highlighted the trillion-dollar cost of food waste and loss for the global economy.

Watch now: How bad is a gas stove for your home's indoor air quality?

Reducing food waste can have an incredible impact on local communities by making fresh, healthy food more accessible. By donating food to vulnerable populations, organizations such as Last Mile help lower the risk of food insecurity and prevent food from ending up in landfills.

The environmental impact of producing food that ends up in the trash is immense. According to Last Mile, it prevented the release of 39 million tons of carbon pollution while feeding 3.6 million people in 2024.

In your kitchen, buying only as much as you need, using leftovers, and storing your produce correctly to keep it fresh for longer will lower your grocery bills and prevent you from wasting food.

Volunteer Erica Johnson said: "There's not necessarily a food desert. The food is just in the wrong place, and if I can volunteer, you're basically an Uber for the food."

TCD Picks » Upway Spotlight

💡Upway makes it easy to find discounts of up to 60% on premium e-bike brands

Last Mile CEO Eileen Budo claimed that food insecurity could be eliminated if just a quarter of edible food waste was preserved. "Food waste is a really dumb problem," she concluded.

What is the biggest reason you don't grow food at home?

Not enough time ⏳