2 million pounds of food rescued since 2013

The issue

Prior to 2020, 10% of Teton County residents were food insecure. The ALICE Project run by United Way found that an additional 27.8% of Teton County residents fall into the ALICE threshold. ALICE (Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed) defines families, neighbors, and colleagues who work hard and earn above the Federal Poverty Level, but not enough to afford their basic needs. ALICE paints an accurate picture of hardship in our community, where economic struggle is widespread as the cost of living outpaces local wages.

Our solution

At the same time that local residents are experiencing food insecurity, there is a remarkable opportunity to rescue food deemed “unsuitable for sale” due to imperfections and approaching expiration dates. The United States is the global leader in food waste, where 40% of all food produced is thrown away annually. Food waste is responsible for 22% of municipal solid waste in U.S. landfills. In response to these staggering figures, food organizations such as Hole Food Rescue mobilize volunteers to rescue and repurpose this perfectly edible food and distribute it to our most vulnerable community members. Since our inception in 2013, Hole Food Rescue has saved more than 2 million pounds of food from entering the waste stream. As we like to say, feed people not landfills.

Learn More about how you can reduce food waste at home.

Actions to prevent and divert food waste

our food recovery hierarchy

We aim to help local food donors reduce their excess inventory by tracking the total pounds of food rescued from them.
Our main focus as an organization is rescuing excess nutritious food and redistributing it to our food-insecure community members who need it most.
Anything we rescue that is unfit for human consumption we send to the animals of Haderlie Farms.
Any food unsuitable for the farm animals is composted with WyoFarm Composting to create nutrient-rich soil.
This is our last resort! We put as little as possible (non-recyclable plastics, meat, etc.) into the waste stream.

A team of 200 dedicated Hole Food Rescue volunteers rescue approximately 30,000 pounds of food from going to the landfill each month. About 5.7% of that food is composted because it is deemed unsuitable for consumption. That means we are able to redistribute 28,640 pounds of imperfect yet nutritious food to community members each month through our programs.

OUR PARTNERS

Albertsons
Aspen Market
Hand Fire Pizza 
Maverick
Pearl Street Market
Persephone
Persephone West Bank
Picnic 
Smith’s 
Target 
Vertical Harvest 
Whole Foods Market
Yeah Buddy Pizza
Caldera House
Calico
Canewater Farm
Colter Bay Convenience Store and Ranch House
Creekside Market
Four Seasons
Hunters for the Hungry
Jackson Cupboard
Jackson Hole Farmers Market
Jackson Hole Marketplace
Jackson Hole Mountain Resort
Jackson Lake Lodge
Jenny Lake Lodge
Kampai Sushi
Mangy Moose
Signal Mountain Lodge
Slow Food Farm Stand
Snake River Grill
Snake River Sporting Club
Thai Me Up
The Lodge at Jackson Hole
The Bird
Wyoming Game and Fish
Yugen Ranch Greenhouse
3 Creek Ranch
Aspen Meadows 
Blair Place Apartments
HFR Hub 
Pioneer Homestead
Senior Center of Jackson Hole (Thursday & Friday)
Teton Free-Clinic
The Grove
The Timbers at Jackson Hole
Aspen Meadows
Blair Place Apartments
Evans Mobile Home Court (not pictured)
Karl Johnson Mobile Home Park
May Park
Mike Yokel Park
Miller Park
Powderhorn Park
Timbers Apartments