Letters: Protecting The Planet While Feeding The Hungry

Editor;

As our community prepares to mark Earth Day, one local nonprofit is quietly executing an unprecedented environmental feat: every single day, Contra Costa-based White Pony Express rescues 10,500 high-quality meals from supermarkets, farmers markets, and restaurants and delivers them to neighbors in need.

While we usually think about food recovery as a low cost, high impact way to feed the hungry, the environmental impact of keeping six tons of food out of the landfill every single day is staggering. When perfectly good food ends up in a landfill, it generates methane – a greenhouse gas up to 86 times more potent than carbon dioxide.

Nearly 40% of the US food supply goes uneaten and just 2% of that surplus food is ever donated. We aren’t just wasting these meals; we are throwing away all the precious land, water, and energy it took to grow them.

The environmental benefit of our work is significant, but it’s only half the story. Last year alone, White Pony Express delivered 768,343 meals across 61 nonprofit partners in Central Contra Costa County, including Concord, Clayton, Walnut Creek, Martinez, and Pleasant Hill.

Right here in Contra Costa County, 1 in 5 of our neighbors faces food insecurity. When White Pony Express picks up food that’s making space for new inventory or nearing its ‘sell by’ date and brings it to a large distribution center where it’s carefully sorted for quality, anything that would not be offered to a family member goes to compost. Food deliveries are curated based on the unique needs of 150 nonprofit recipients and reach their doorstep within hours, always free of charge, creating a turnkey solution to two of our region’s most pressing crises: climate change and food insecurity.

Despite moving over six tons of food daily, the reality is that our local safety net remains severely strained. Right now, the organization’s waitlist has grown to a staggering 75 local nonprofits requesting weekly food deliveries from White Pony Express. Those are 75 organizations – and the thousands of individuals they serve – that don’t have the resources to feed hungry clients, guests, and residents.

White Pony Express recently launched its “Growing Hope, Delivering Love” campaign with a fundraising goal of $350,000. These funds are critical to sustain and expand operations in a climate where nonprofits like this one are struggling to make ends meet.

As you look for ways to honor and protect our planet this Earth Month, supporting food recovery is among the most direct, high-impact ways to take climate action while building a stronger, healthier community for all of us. To help expand this vital work across Contra Costa County, learn more about the campaign here. All of us taking care of all of us!

Tyler McCarthy/ Outreach Associate, White Pony Express