Twin Cities Food Justice

TC Food Justice is a volunteer- driven nonprofit dedicated to reducing food waste and hunger in the Twin Cities. We partner with co-ops, markets, farmers, etc. to rescue fresh, but unsalable food and redistribute it to hunger relief organizations. In 2024, we rescued 382,000 pounds, a 55% increase over the prior year, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and feeding food insecure individuals and families across the Twin Cities region.

TC Food Justice is nonprofit helping to combat food waste and hunger in the Twin Cities. We operate through four core values: improving health through increased access to nutrient rich food, especially among food insecure individuals, creating conditions for health and economic equity in the neighborhoods we serve, executing our work with environmentally sustainable mechanisms, and engaging the Twin Cities community in the issues of food waste, food insecurity and hunger.

Through our Food Rescue Program, we provide free, fresh, and nutritious food to those in need with minimal barriers. The Full Fridge Initiative stocks refrigerators in trusted spaces like clinics and shelters and our Priceless Produce Program brings weekly food deliveries to public housing residents. The Produce Preservation Program extends access to diverse produce year-round. These programs fight hunger and food waste while advancing health, equity, sustainability, and community engagement.

Food insecurity is on the rise with Minnesotans visiting food shelves 1.4 million times more often in 2024 than in 2023. In response, TCFJ has increased the amount of fresh produce, nutritious bread and healthy food that we deliver at no cost. Funds from Eastside Co-op will be used to increase the amount of food we rescue, especially culturally specific foods, by increasing staff hours to develop new partnerships with grocers and food relief organizations in the metro area.

We greatly appreciate our partnership with Eastside Co-op and want to take the opportunity to share that in the past 18 months (since January 2024) we have rescued 29,294 pounds of food from Eastside Co-op that would have otherwise gone unused and delivered to local food shelves.