Why did this begin?
It began with Lori and her son, Caleb, driving past Trader Joe’s in Orange, CT in 2015. Caleb had known friends who dumpster dived in the back of Trader Joe’s and, with a motherly nudge from Lori to do some good for the world, reached out to the store to see if they would donate their excess food. What began as a rocky once a week pickup from Trader Joe’s, slowly grew into what we now have as twice a day pickup every day.
The family—Lori, Caleb, Elijah, and Emma—were quickly propelled into the world of food recovery. As the Trader Joe’s recovery program grew, they began creating more connections with other food producers or businesses in the food industry, who were unsure at the start but happy to not throw out food. An unexpected hurdle, at first, was finding community partners who would accept the food. They had anticipated that food pantries and soup kitchens would be the primary partners, but had found that the type of food—perishable and prepared foods—did not fit, in amount, timing, and type, for them. So, because of this new model in the Greater New Haven Area, they started to look for non-traditional partners—such as senior centers and daycare centers.
Four short years, and numerous partners later, Haven’s Harvest was officially launched!
Our mission is to build community and reduce food waste, one food rescue at a time.
We focus on the environmental impact that excess food has when thrown into the waste stream—when in a landfill or an incinerator, food emits methane which is 28 times more toxic than carbon dioxide.
We keep good, edible food out of the waste stream by using a volunteer driven, hyper-local, direct delivery model. Most food producers and food businesses want to donate their excess food. The two obstacles are lack of transportation and lack of a community partner to accept the food when it is available. That is where Haven’s Harvest comes in! Because we focus on perishable or prepared foods, that only have a few days left to be eaten, it is very important that we match the food donated by a partner site to a receiving site that can use the food for their community.
We create and sustain good relationships—with our food donors, receiving partners and our volunteers. As we have grown our work in the Greater New Haven area, we have found a full spectrum of receiving partners: faith communities, daycare centers, subsidized housing, methadone clinics, health care clinics, schools, food pantries, sober homes, libraries, mutual aid sites, re-entry programs, and other non-profits. These partners share the same value that good food shouldn’t go to waste—as they see the food that we share with them as a value-add to the services they provide. We have fed these communities with over 1.5 million lbs of food in 2023, meaning that over 800,000 lbs of CO2 emissions were prevented.
Why do we do it? Because food justice is environmental justice.
Good food should not be wasted. Food production uses an incredible amount of energy. By recovering food, we are using it to its’ fullest potential and not wasting the energy it took to produce the food. We are facing an environmental crisis- and we have a high rate of food insecurity in our country. We can begin to end both problems by recognizing recovered food as a community resource. Our initial style of sharing food has been to ask volunteers to use their vehicles to transfer food directly from donor to community partner site. Our venture is hyper-local. Most food moves within a 15 minute ride. This enhances our sense of community- neighbors helping neighbors. Our communities should not be food insecure given how much food is wasted.
Why the acorn?
Though small and humble in appearance, the acorn contains the potential to grow into a mighty oak tree—providing shelter, food, and support for countless living things. Much like an acorn, the work of food rescue starts small: a single meal saved, a single partnership formed, a single act of kindness. But these small actions, when nurtured, grow into something larger and more impactful—a healthier, more connected community where resources are used wisely, and no one is left behind.
Just as an acorn needs fertile ground, care, and time to flourish, our efforts at Haven’s Harvest rely on the dedication of our volunteers, donors, and community partners to take root and thrive. Together, we plant seeds of change that help ensure sustainability for future generations.
The acorn also reminds us of nature’s inherent efficiency—nothing goes to waste in a healthy ecosystem. This mirrors our mission to reduce food waste by creating a system where excess food is redirected to meet real needs. Every item of rescued food, like an acorn, has the potential to bring life, nourishment, and growth when placed in the right hands. We see every act of food recovery as a step toward building a stronger, more equitable community—just as the oak tree grows strong from its small beginnings.