Produce and flowers donated to local community after event, in partnership with the Atlanta Community Food Bank
The International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) donated 226,735lbs of produce and 8,575lbs of floral after this year’s Global Produce & Floral Show in Atlanta, Georgia.
The rescue and distribution of the donation was in partnership with the Atlanta Community Food Bank, a member of the Feeding America network, which serves 29 counties in the Atlanta and northern Georgia region.
“We want to ensure our show is as sustainable as possible and being good stewards of our fresh product – both produce and floral – is a critical part of those efforts,” said IFPA chief executive Cathy Burns.
“We have been working with the Feeding America network of food banks since 1983 to help rescue and distribute product from the Expo.
”We celebrate the industry’s generosity in donating their product and we cannot thank the Atlanta Community Food Bank and their volunteers enough for helping us to ensure that all rescuable produce and floral are able to reach the families in the Atlanta community,” she outlined.
In the past 20 years, the industry has donated more than 5m pounds of produce to food banks in the cities that have hosted the Global Produce & Floral Show.
Each year, as the show closes, volunteers organised by the partner food banks enter the show floor to rescue and pack the produce and floral donations for transportation.
This year, rescued produce was distributed across the 29 counties served by the Atlanta Community Food Bank, and fruit and other shelf stable items were also distributed to the Augusta Food Bank which suffered damage during the recent hurricanes.
“We are deeply grateful to IFPA for their generous donation to the Atlanta Community Food Bank,” said Kyle Waide, president and CEO of the Atlanta Community Food Bank.
”Our region is experiencing heightened demand for food assistance, and we are relying on our partners to help us distribute more food than ever to those in need.
“IFPA’s contributions to local food banks across the nation play a crucial role in ensuring that individuals and families have access to nutritious produce options,” Waide noted.
In addition to produce, floral, furnishings, and green waste are all donated to community partners.
