If we can figure out how to recycle aluminum foil, what's so tough about broccoli?   Actually nothing.

When broccoli comes in its raw form, you steam it with rice. When it comes in bulk, you can fix it 100 different ways. Then you can give it to someone who's hungry. It's that simple.

To make inventive dishes like these, we need your help. We pick up unserved food from grocery stores, hotels, hospitals, restaurants, caterers, corporate kitchens and our most important donor, the North Carolina State Farmers Market. We can then safely transport it organizations serving those in need.

... And we can use more than broccoli. We need everything from fresh produce and frozen meats, to appetizers, entrees, and side dishes. Combined, they'll provide meals for hundreds of people every day. We invite you to be a part of this miracle.

The Problem of Food Waste
Up to one-fifth of America's food goes to waste each year, with an estimated 130 pounds of food per person ending up in landfills. The annual value of this lost food is estimated at around $31billion. But the real story is that roughly 49 million people could have been fed by those lost resources.(USDA)

How Our Food is Supplied
Food Shuttle receives food from over 220 donors. They range from grocery stores, catering companies, corporate cafeterias, and restaurants, wholesale food brokers, to vending companies, and our most important donor, the North Carolina State Farmers Market. They donate the products to us so that we, in turn, can donate it to the organizations in the areas that feed the needy--the soup kitchens, pantries, outreach missions, and shelters.

How We Move the Food
The populations that we serve are some of the most vulnerable in our community, and we take seriously our responsibility to provide them with only the healthiest, most wholesome foods. The Inter-Faith Food Shuttle has a fleet of 11 refrigerated trucks. They range from vans to large trucks that hold six pallets of recovered food. All of our staff and volunteers have been trained in the best practices to handle perishable food.

Who Receives the Food
The Food Shuttle provides food to over 200 agencies and programs that serve the greater Triangle area. From shelters and soup kitchens in Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill; to outreach efforts in local housing authorities and faith-based pantries as far away as Smithfield, and Tarboro; the Food Shuttle strives to establish equitable distribution of rescued perishable foods.

Click here to download an application to become a recipient agency.