Fresh Food Connect

A nonprofit organization

Fresh Food Connect works to build a more equitable, healthy, and resilient food system by connecting gardeners with their communities. Our innovative and unique approach uses technology to mobilize gardeners and redirect an untapped resource-- homegrown food, to support hunger relief efforts in communities across Colorado and the entire USA, through a scalable model.


*YOUR IMPACT IS DOUBLED: All donations received through December 31, 2023 will be doubled through a matching grant*


Give today to help us: 


The problem:

  1. This year, an estimated 54 million Americans, or 1 in 4 children, will face food insecurity.
  2. 40% of the food in the United States goes to waste. Not only does that pull from our strained food system and those facing hunger, it also creates significant, yet avoidable, environmental impacts that further climate change.
  3. Organizations working on the frontlines of hunger often struggle to supply enough fresh, local, nutrient-dense produce to their communities.

An opportunity: 

  1. Gardening is on the rise. 35% of Americans have a home or community garden, with the average plot size of 600 square feet. And there are approximately 35,000 community garden plots nationwide! 
  2.  89% of our participating gardeners had never donated their produce to hunger relief organizations before using Fresh Food Connect.

FFC’s Solution

FFC’s mobile app closes this gap, creating capacity for local hunger relief organizations to source homegrown produce at scale, while making it easy for gardeners to donate excess produce, rather than allowing it to go to waste. 

Community-based hunger relief & food access organizations (“Operators”) license our technology to coordinate multiple incoming donations of homegrown produce. In addition to accessing an untapped source of local  produce, Operators broaden their reach by connecting with local gardening communities and a national network of similar organizations.

Gardeners use the free FFC app to identify their closest Operator, and schedule produce donations. We provide a meaningful, engaging, and easy way for gardeners to share  homegrown produce with community members who need it most, rather than allowing it to go to waste.

 Impact


Testimonials

 "Being a single parent is a challenge, and having to skip meals to be able to feed your child is an added stress. This is the first pantry I’ve been to where I felt comfortable and safe enough to bring my child with me. Every little bit helps make the circle go round.”

       - Monica, Fresh Food Connect participant through Kaizen Food Rescue

"You guys helped us a lot this year. My son, a very picky eater, was so excited that he picked his own vegetables, he does not ever eat vegetables, he would never have picked this out in a grocery store. He grabbed a cucumber, zucchini, tomato, some carrots, yellow squash, and a potato and asked me "Mama? Can I make soup?" So we went home and we did just that! He calls it his secret recipe! As a parent in recovery, helping others is a big thing for our family. Is there a way that my son and I can volunteer next summer? "
       - Program participant with Grow Nashua

"Oh that's smart! [the app] That's a really great idea. People are able to get local and organic veggies."
     -9 year old program participant

"Starting our work with Fresh Food Connect, particularly during a pandemic, has been an incredible way to connect to other organizations passionate about changing our food system and support gardeners to contribute much needed fresh produce, locally. With so much shifting all around us, to see backyard gardens become sites of community care and change brings a radical sense of hope to the work that we do."
     -Hannah Perez-Postman, Ekar Farm, Operating partner

"BFR has partnered with FFC for going on 3 seasons. It is a welcome supplement of fresh food to our existing relationships with early childhood education centers and low income housing communities. We have made connections with home gardeners that are making a positive impact in the community."
-Boulder Food Rescue, Operating partner



Mission

Vision: Homegrown food within reach. – We believe all people have a right to nutritious food, and we envision a local food system that brings homegrown food within reach of all.

Mission: To grow a more local and resilient food system by connecting gardeners with their communities. – Fresh Food Connect applies technology to create the capacity to connect gardeners with their communities, and strengthen local food systems.

Our goal is to increase the amount of fresh, local produce available to food insecure community members, which we accomplish by mobilizing gardeners to donate their homegrown surplus vegetables and fruits to local hunger relief centers through our innovative mobile app. This keeps food local, decreases food waste, and engages more individuals in food access work. This model is highly scalable-- we started in Colorado and are now expanding nationwide.

Background Statement

Technology has turned car owners into cab drivers and homeowners into hospitality managers. Fresh Food Connect was started to turn gardeners into farmers by creating a market for homegrown food that may otherwise be left to waste. An increasing number of gardeners alongside food inequities led three nonprofit organizations in Denver to create Fresh Food Connect. We don't want the highest quality, homegrown food to go to waste but instead be enjoyed by neighbors that need it. So in 2016, a group of forward-thinkers from three Denver organizations came together to present a new idea that would become Fresh Food Connect. The concept presented initially was a pilot project to facilitate donation of homegrown food from backyard and community gardeners to local hunger relief organizations, in order to increase supply of healthy, local, fresh produce to food pantries, and to decrease food waste.

Fresh Food Connect began in one zip code in Colorado, in the heart of Denver. Now, the organization is working coast to coast, in over 2000+ zip codes with 70 operating partners. This tremendous growth resulted with the transition from our web-based program to mobile app technology in early 2020 licensed to various local hunger relief efforts across the US, linking community members that share their garden abundance.

The focus for Fresh Food Connect is to provide access to more healthy foods, reduce food insecurity, and ultimately eliminate food deserts by allowing excess foods from gardens to be shared through local food banks and other organizations focused on feeding the community. To keep up with the demand for sourcing fresh food, Fresh Food Connect has an ambitious growth strategy for increasing our impact year over year, which will require significant community support.

Organization Data

Summary

Organization name

Fresh Food Connect

Year Established

2018

Tax id (EIN)

82-5180956

Category

Food, Agriculture & Nutrition

Organization Size

Medium Organization

Address

PO Box 181582
Denver, CO 80218

Service areas

Denver County, CO, US

Phone

941-544-5732

Social Media