Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) supported the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals of a 50% reduction of food waste. In supermarkets in 2018, 20-40% of produce was thrown away for not meeting cosmetic standards, even though much of it was edible. Numerous food rescue organizations and volunteers throughout the United States pick up and deliver food from companies and individuals, using refrigerated trucks where necessary. Recipient agencies tend to serve people of low and no income. Sustainable America manages a directory of food rescue organizations that can be searched online, The Food Rescue Locator. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a Hunger Hotline at the telephone number 1.866.3.HUNGRY (1-866-348-6479). John van Hengel in Phoenix, Arizona founded the world's first food bank, St. Mary's Food Bank, in 1967 and created a national network for food banks, Second Harvest (later America’s Second Harvest), in 1979. In 2008, Second Harvest changed its name to Feeding America to better reflect the organization's mission. Feeding America includes over 200 regional food banks as members. Other nationally known food rescue organizations include Food Rescue US in more than 20 states and Washington, DC; La Soupe, based in Cincinnati, Ohio; City Harvest in New York City; and Philabundance and Sharing Excess in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Society of St. Andrew is a volunteer and faith-based gleaning nonprofit that works with farms and orchards. Feeding America estimates that food insecurity increased by 50 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic, and that one of every five Americans sought assistance from food banks, pantries, and other programs for food assistance. City Harvest reported that the five boroughs of New York City, food pantries served about 3.5 million monthly visitors in 2022, up 69% from 2019. Waste No Food, Food Rescue US, Sharing Excess and other organizations use app technology to notify charities where and when excess food is available to aid in their food recovery efforts. 412 Food Rescue, formed in Pittsburgh in 2015, is testing the potential of using autonomous cars to pick up and deliver surplus food supplies, to overcome the issue of a shortage of drivers. See also Feeding America Freeganism Food Race Garbage picking Love Food, Hate Waste Pending meal United States Department of Agriculture Upcycling References External links Food Rescue Locator : USA Hands For Hunger : The Bahamas FoodShare: New Zealand Karrot Open source Collaborative tool for organizing Trash wiki DIY culture Simple living Waste collection Sustainable