Wholesale Donations

By: Jalila Waller, Communications & Outreach Coordinator

​Do you ever wonder about the journey produce takes to reach the grocery shelf?
Or what happens to the produce that was considered not good enough to be sold at the retail level? 

Well, before produce is brought to the grocery store, it is first inspected by a distributor at the wholesale level. This takes place at distribution centers, which are the link between suppliers of produce (farmers) and consumers (retail markets). Distribution centers receive truckloads of fresh produce that have traveled across the country, bound for retailers. However, sometimes the produce is not up to standards upon arrival and inspection. Maybe the temperature in the truck was slightly lower or higher than it was supposed to be. Maybe the kale has some yellow or discolored leaves. Maybe the peaches have a couple of scabs. Or maybe the pallet slid to the side while en route. These are all possible reasons that food retailers will reject produce that is still perfectly edible. So, in order to eliminate food waste, we at Boston Area Gleaners try to intercept these truckloads of perfectly good food. Truck drivers who have a rejected truckload of produce will give us a call to see if we can accept the wholesale donation. If we have the space and the human-power to accept and sort through the donation, we will. Then we distribute it as quickly as possible to our food access partners. This allows people to enjoy fresh produce that would otherwise go to waste. 

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Sorting and distributing wholesale donations is not an easy feat. When we receive a wholesale donation, we first have to unload multiple pallets of produce. Then we inspect the pallet to ensure the quality of produce. Next, we enter it into our inventory system, noting specific details about the quality of the product. And finally, after volunteers help clean, sort and pack the produce, it is sent out on our regular distribution routes to our food access partners.

Grocery stores and food retailers contribute to an overwhelming amount of food waste in this country. According to Redfed, in 2022, food retailers generated 4.99 million tons of waste and 35% of it went to landfills or was incinerated as waste. We hate to see that number get any higher. So, working upstream at the wholesale level allows us to further intervene and fulfill our mission of mitigating food waste and facilitating food security. Last year, we received and distributed 558,000 pounds of fresh produce thanks to wholesale donations. This year, we have received and distributed 763,000 pounds of produce. Not only are we decreasing levels of food insecurity and food waste, but we are also providing year-round fresh produce to people who cannot afford it. While the end of the 2024 gleaning season may be near, the season for delivering fresh produce never stops, nor does reducing the amount of food waste generated at the wholesale level.  

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Accepting wholesale donations is a gamble since we do not have eyes on the produce to determine the quality until it's on our loading dock. Unfortunately, we cannot distribute every donation that comes our way. Sometimes we receive a wonderful shipment of fruits and veggies that barely have any blemishes. Other times, we receive mostly spoiled produce. Even with the spoiled produce we accept, we can compost it and use that compost to fertilize our farm fields. Without our efforts, thousands of pounds of produce (along with its packaging) would go straight to a dump, instead of to people who would benefit from it. 

We also rely on our partner organizations such as DiSilva Fruit, Farmlink Project, and Food Rescue US to keep us up to date on different truckloads of produce coming to our area that we could accept to help fill our inventory. Within the last 5 years we have been working with traditional distributors to accept donations. Luckily, the move to Stonefield Farm in 2021 gave us a larger capacity to accept more donations. Most of the donations come in 18-wheeler trucks, so having our loading docks makes it possible to secure the produce. However, we are constantly racing against the clock to distribute the fruits and veggies to our partners in a timely manner. Nonetheless, we take a leap of faith with accepting wholesale donations because it makes all the difference when there is still the slightest opportunity to provide healthy fruits and veggies to communities that otherwise would not have access to it.  

So, the next time you are perusing the produce section of your local grocery store, think about all the other produce that was not pretty enough to sell at the store, but was still good enough to make it to someone’s home.

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