Frequently asked Questions

What services does Food Shift offer?
Food Recovery
Our flagship food recovery program, Operation Together, recovers food that would otherwise go to waste (surplus edible food) predominantly from wholesale produce markets and grocery stores. We then transport the donation to partnering organizations with food assistance programs to nourish our neighbors. We accept food donations from businesses (wholesalers, distributors, grocery stores), but not from individuals. Click here for more.
JEDI Training
Food Shift offers advisory and consulting services to establish organizational practices that arise from values of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI). JEDI is at the heart of climate and food justice. We see it as part of our mission to continue to learn and challenge ourselves to exercise our JEDI values and share with others on this journey. We offer in-person and virtual workshops as well as longer term engagements to recommend and implement JEDI-based practices as part of your strategic planning. Click here for more.
Food Waste Reduction/SB 1383 Consulting
With our extensive experience and understanding of the complex ecosystem around food production, waste, and access, we educate and support organizations to improve their sustainable practices. In light of California’s Senate Bill 1383, we assist our clients with implementing programs and training for compliance. Contact consulting@foodshift.net to schedule a free 30-minute consultation. Click here for more.
Education and Policy Change
We support legislation and initiatives across and adjacent to the food sector that offer long term solutions to food apartheid, wasted food, issues that intersect food justice and climate action. We offer our curriculum to schools, organizations, and individuals to maximize food use. Visit our Reduce Wasted Food page for helpful tips on cutting down food waste at home, at the market and at school.
Our flagship food recovery program, Operation Together, recovers food that would otherwise go to waste (surplus edible food) predominantly from wholesale produce markets and grocery stores. We then transport the donation to partnering organizations with food assistance programs to nourish our neighbors. We accept food donations from businesses (wholesalers, distributors, grocery stores), but not from individuals. Click here for more.
JEDI Training
Food Shift offers advisory and consulting services to establish organizational practices that arise from values of justice, equity, diversity and inclusion (JEDI). JEDI is at the heart of climate and food justice. We see it as part of our mission to continue to learn and challenge ourselves to exercise our JEDI values and share with others on this journey. We offer in-person and virtual workshops as well as longer term engagements to recommend and implement JEDI-based practices as part of your strategic planning. Click here for more.
Food Waste Reduction/SB 1383 Consulting
With our extensive experience and understanding of the complex ecosystem around food production, waste, and access, we educate and support organizations to improve their sustainable practices. In light of California’s Senate Bill 1383, we assist our clients with implementing programs and training for compliance. Contact consulting@foodshift.net to schedule a free 30-minute consultation. Click here for more.
Education and Policy Change
We support legislation and initiatives across and adjacent to the food sector that offer long term solutions to food apartheid, wasted food, issues that intersect food justice and climate action. We offer our curriculum to schools, organizations, and individuals to maximize food use. Visit our Reduce Wasted Food page for helpful tips on cutting down food waste at home, at the market and at school.
How do I get involved with Food Shift? Can I donate food to Food Shift?
Our most urgent need is financial. If you are able, we appreciate your monetary donations to help sustain our operations year-round. For different ways to donate, click here. If you’re interested in volunteering, interning, or working with us, refer to our open positions page to view current opportunities, and email us with any questions. If your business generates edible surplus food that would otherwise go to waste, please contact us to see if we can nourish our neighbors with it. We do not accept food donations from individuals, but some of our partners, such as CityTeam (various locations) do. While food banks prefer cash donations to food donations (they can obtain specific types of food in need at a discounted rate), we understand there may be surplus within your household. Check our guidelines here on what can be donated, what food banks typically accept, as well as a list of partners who do accept food donations from individuals.
Should foods past the “sell-by” and “best-by” dates be thrown out?
Do not be fooled! Labels on food like “Sell by” and “Best if Used By/Before” are misleading and cause households to waste perfectly edible food. They simply reflect the manufacturer’s recommendations for peak quality and usually do not indicate a food safety risk. These labels—with the exception of infant formula—are not federally regulated, and because there are no uniform or universally accepted standards for these dates in the U.S. they often cause more confusion for consumers and premature disposal of perfectly good food. Our partner, StopWaste, has a free downloadable info card in English and Spanish to decode these dates. Here is the USDA’s guide for distinguishing between the different labels.
What is SB 1383?
California State Legislation Senate Bill 1383 is a groundbreaking regulation aimed at reducing methane emissions from organic waste in California’s landfills. Adopted in September 2016, municipalities and certain businesses are subject to this law since January 2022. Wasted food accounts for approximately 17-18% of landfills, and produces methane, a harmful greenhouse gas, as it decomposes. Just as oil spills harm our environment, so does rotting food in our landfill.
We offer consulting services to help businesses and government entities comply with this legislation by developing or improving food recovery programs in an inclusive way that builds capacity in your community. Contact info@foodshift.net to schedule a free 30-minute consultation.
We offer consulting services to help businesses and government entities comply with this legislation by developing or improving food recovery programs in an inclusive way that builds capacity in your community. Contact info@foodshift.net to schedule a free 30-minute consultation.
How long has Food Shift been around?
Food Shift was founded in 2012, as a project of the Earth Island Institute, honing food recovery techniques and models serving predominantly East Bay communities. We have evolved into a mutual-aid organization with a unique approach to serve our communities hyperlocally and uplift what we have learned from our first hand experiences globally, with a 100% BIPOC staff with a diverse team of engaged community advisors and volunteers. Click here for our approach.
Where does Food Shift get its funding from?
We are so grateful to receive both monetary and in-kind service donations from our wonderful community partners, listed on our Partners page. We receive ~20% of our revenues from individual donations and corporation matches, and ~35% in grants. Unusual for a nonprofit, we earn the rest (~45%) of what we need to support our work through program revenues. We believe our work has value, and our interactions with our neighbors yield insights that should influence policies to better serve marginalized communities. We now have several clients who have hired us to help shape and implement policies, providing contract revenues that help underwrite our food recovery program and internships.
What is Food Shift doing to be actively anti-racist?
Headquartered at the Alameda Point Collaborative in the East Bay, where most of our neighbors and apprentices are Black and Latine, what we see in the media isn’t merely news, statistical, or theoretical. It is personal. The structural racism that underpins the state-sanctioned violence against our Black, Indigenous, or People of Color (BIPOC) neighbors is also built into our food ecosystem. Food justice, therefore, requires racial justice. Solutions must be by the people, for the people, and with the people.
Food Shift is currently a 100% BIPOC staff supported by a multi-cultural team of advisors, volunteers, and partners. We developed an inclusive hiring process to ensure the ethos of a mutual aid organization: that people serving the community, reflect the intersectionalities of the community. All team members, including volunteers, participate in a justice, equity, diversity & inclusion (JEDI) workshop as part of the on-boarding. Click here for our values.
Food Shift is currently a 100% BIPOC staff supported by a multi-cultural team of advisors, volunteers, and partners. We developed an inclusive hiring process to ensure the ethos of a mutual aid organization: that people serving the community, reflect the intersectionalities of the community. All team members, including volunteers, participate in a justice, equity, diversity & inclusion (JEDI) workshop as part of the on-boarding. Click here for our values.
Does Food Shift offer catering or meal-making services?
We do not have access to a commercial kitchen, and therefore, we do not offer catering or meal-making services. We do serve as a work site for graduates of other culinary apprenticeship programs to further enhance their skill set through food recovery and to actively participate in a mutual aid organization.
The following partners are committed to equitable hiring and sustainable practices who can provide catering and meal-making services:
Cocina del Corazón
C’era Una Volta
The following partners are committed to equitable hiring and sustainable practices who can provide catering and meal-making services:
Cocina del Corazón
C’era Una Volta
